Kyle Dubas said via email on Tuesday that the Lars Eller trade has been "in the works since the spring; Washington met our asking price and we executed the deal." Eller did not indicate that he wanted a trade, and he had no say in the Capitals being that destination.
On what the trade signals for the direction of the team, Dubas only said that "it signals that with Blake Lizotte returning from injury and having depth options at center with Cody Glass, Noel Acciari, and Sam Poulin on the roster plus younger centers progressing in our system that we wanted the minutes for those players and give them greater opportunity plus increase our assets and cap space to give us greater flexibility."
That being said, the door is still open for other players in the AHL to come in and take any spots.
"Players will be recalled and given opportunity only when we feel they have maximized their development at Wilkes and are ready to make that step," Dubas said. "Some guys earned that out of camp and others are starting to make a strong push while helping Wilkes off to a great start. We look forward to seeing which guys can continue that push with Wilkes, help them win and earn their chance to come up when those opportunities arise."
