Lars Eller signing a one-year, $1.25 million contract on July 1 with the Ottawa Senators wasn’t met with much fanfare in Bytown. Yet whether Senators fans know it or not, their team took a step forward adding Eller to its roster.
Here are six cool things that Senators fans may not know about the newest Scandinavian addition to their team.
Eller One of Only Four Danes to Play in Ottawa
Eller is just the fourth Dane to ever don a Senators sweater. He’ll join fellow countryman Mads Sogaard as just one of two Danes currently playing in the Senators organization. He follows in the footsteps of the Danish-born Peter Regin who played five seasons in Ottawa from 2008-2012 and Mikkel Boedker who played parts of two campaigns in Ottawa from 2018-20.
Boedker and Eller played hockey together as teenagers and Eller will inherit his No. 89 making him the second Danish-born player to sport that number in the nation’s capital. That’s because Fabian Zetterlund is wearing Eller’s longtime No. 20. Coincidentally, 1989 is Eller’s birth year.
Eller the Dominant Dane
Eller is hands down the player who has made Denmark’s biggest mark on the NHL. With 1,116 games to his credit and counting, he is the first Danish-born player to skate in over 1,000 NHL games. Not only that, but with 16 seasons under his belt (and counting), he’s the longest-lived Dane in the league career-wise.
Eller is Denmark’s Sole Stanley Cup Champion
Eller is the only Danish-born player to win a Stanley Cup, winning that honour with the Washington Capitals in 2018. Not only is his name on the Cup, but he scored the goal that won it in Game 5 of the Capitals’ championship series against the Vegas Golden Knights that year.
Eller’s Stanley Cup pedigree is something that will no doubt insert itself into the DNA of the Senators organization. He along with fellow Cup champions Michael Amadio, David Perron and Nick Cousins will play a big role in mentoring and molding the team’s young guns.
As Eller explained it in an interview on Coming in Hot, “I think you have to have the right mix of really good young players and have some veterans they can lean on a little bit. And I think I can be one of those guys. I know they have a couple already with (Claude) Giroux and Perron that I know a little bit. I think you need a little bit of everything, and I can provide some of that. I think it’s going to be really good. I’m really looking forward to this challenge.”
Hockey Runs in Eller’s Bloodline
Eller’s father Olaf, played for the Danish national men’s team and coached several teams in the Danish Superisligaen (now the Metal Ligaen) – Denmark’s top professional league. He is now a colour commentator for several of the country’s top broadcasting networks.
Eller’s younger brother Mads played a season in the ECHL and also played for Frolunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League. He also played for Denmark in the 2012 World Junior Hockey Championship. His half-brother Michael Smidt has also played with the Danish national team and spent his professional career in Denmark playing 17 seasons for the Rodovre Mighty Bulls. He captained that team for six seasons before he retired in 2014.
Eller The Tiger
Ellers’ nickname is “The Tiger”. He got that name at a Tony Robbins motivational seminar the Capitals had organized for their players. He was sitting in the front row when Robbins pointed to him and demanded to know his “spirit animal”. Eller shouted out “Tiger!”. His teammates laughed, but the name stuck.
While teammate T.J. Oshie later dubbed him “Horse/Moose”, it’s “The Tiger” that seems to have won out as his monicker.
Eller Likes Senators’ “Pain in the Ass” Style
Asked about his reasons for signing in Ottawa, Eller had high praise for the Senators explaining, “Over the last couple of years, every time I played against Ottawa, they’ve been a pain in the ass to play against. I feel like they’ve been getting better and better. I think they took another step this year to become a playoff team, and I still think that there’s room for growth with them. I think their best players are going to continue to keep getting better. So, I think they have been moving and [are] going to move in the right direction, so that was certainly appealing to me.”
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Eller elaborated further, saying, “But I also wanted to be on a competitive team, and I also do feel like Ottawa really wanted me. It was an important spot for me, an important role to fill.” President of hockey operations and general manager (GM) Steve Staios echoed Eller, saying, “We had our sights set on a certain individual, and it was Lars… another veteran with experience (and) a high‑character individual that can move around the lineup.”
Senators Are a Better Team With Eller
Eller was never a flashy talent producing impressive point totals at any point in his career. At 36 years old and in the twilight of his career, the Senators will look to him to bring stability, leadership and Cup-winning veteran experience both to the ice and the dressing room. He brings the character Staios needs to help support the development of his talented young core.
Senators fans are sure to enjoy his play. Perhaps chants of “Tiger” will be raining down from the rafters this season.
