He Said: What Line Should Lars Eller Play On This Season?

by Willey

Whenever I am asked to write my point of view something, I sit down and contemplate what I am going to say. I’ll generally come up with four or five reasons to justify my position and then follow that up with a phone conversation with an Internet Prognosticator “TourCaddy”.

On an almost daily basis we sit down and discuss a wide variety of topics, from our top or bottom six forwards, to the salary cap, to the price of tickets to the price of a beer at the Bell Centre.

Speaking of which can you believe that a Molson M now sets you back $11 for one beer?

Recently we had a quick discussion on “newly” acquired Lars Eller and where we saw him fitting into the team.

When you take a look at the Montreal Canadiens top six forwards, there are two things which become very evident.

First, this team has a lot of skill and speed but more importantly this team lacks some serious size.

Mike Cammalleri: 5’9
Tomas Plekanec: 5’10
Brian Gionta: 5’6
Scott Gomez: 5’11
Andrei Kostitsyn: 6’0

Average size from these guys is 5 feet 9.6 inches tall.

OK, OK, OK I know exactly what is going through your head right now: You're thinking that this is hardly a newsflash and thank you for pointing out the obvious.

Am I right?

The fact is that size, or lack thereof, has been an issue on this club for more than 15 years—since the time when Vincent Damphousse, Kirk Muller, Brian Bellows, John Leclair et al., filled the roster of the blue blanc rouge.

Due to this this nagging concern management has made some of the worst player development decisions ever.

Players like Jason Ward, Terry Ryan, and more recently Guillaume Latendresse and Max Pacioretty, have been rushed to the NHL before they were ready and were placed into situations where they were doomed to fail.

Rather than bring these kids along slowly and developing them in situations were they can play to their full comfort level, they were used as spare parts and in situations that they were not accustomed to playing in.

Now, with the 2011 NHL season almost upon us, the Habs are once again faced with a similar situations with Lars Eller.


By the numbers.

Originally drafted 13th overall in the 2007 entry draft by the St-Louis Blues—acquired by the Canadiens along with the physical, two-way, gritty forward Ian Schultz in the Jaroslav Halak trade—Eller has come into camp at 6’2-plus and more than 200 pounds.

Eller was considered, according to the Hockey News as the No. 1 ranked forward prospect in the Blue organization after a very successful 2009-10 campaign, his first in North America.

While playing center for the Peoria Rivermen in the 09-10 campaign, Eller produced 57 points in 70 games finishing the season with a very comfortable lead in team scoring and ultimately earning him a spot on the AHL All-Rookie team.

So, his background and pedigree and unquestioned. The question now, however, is what to do with this highly touted prospect.

Is Eller better suited for the wing or as a center?

In my opinion he absolutely must be a center and here's why:


Too many wingers in contention

When you look up and down the Canadiens organizational lineup, you will see an abundance of depth on the wing. Currently Cammalleri, Kostitsyn, Gionta and possibly Benoit Pouliot can be penciled in to fill the top four winger positions.

These above mentioned players are either under the age of 25 or have more remaining years on their current contracts.

This of course does not include the list of players who are waiting in the wing—yes, that pun was intended.

With the likes of players like Max Pacioretty, Danny Kristo, and Alexander Avtsin all ready to make the jump in the next two to three years, and all of which appear capable of big offensive output, our winger depth appears more than solid.

At center, however, the crop of offensive talent is not as deep. With the exception of Plekanec and Gomez, the only other player currently in the organization who appears capable of filling these shoes is Louis Leblanc—with the possible exception of David Desharnais.

Sure I can sit here and throw out names like Ben Maxwell or Dustin Boyd but neither of these guys appear capable of offensive production at the NHL level.


Size down the middle

Apart from your goaltender and D-men, the most important position on the ice is your centerman.

A center is responsible not only as the catalyst for your offensive production but as the principle player for containment of opposition in the defensive zone.

When my beloved Habs throw out Plekanec and Gomez to contend with the likes of Evgeny Malkin, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal, Nik Antropov, Patrice Bergeron, Travis Zajac, Jason Spezza, etc., they are more often than not physically outmatched.

I know that our centers play well positionally at both ends of the ice, but hockey IQ can only take you so far. You need size and strength to take you the the rest of the way.

Our centers are small and lack the ability to contain a big opposing player one-on-one. I know this and, more importantly, Jacques Martin knows this.

JM has developed a system that relies on outnumbering the opposition down low because of his top-two centers' diminutive stature. A system which demands that the wingers come to the aid of the centers and collapse from the hash marks down.

This system unfortunately leads to the point being completely uncovered, which then ultimately leads to more shots and goals against.

A player with size who is able to physically contain a player down low would allow JM to slightly alter his system, allowing for closer man-to-man coverage while keeping the point well guarded.


Familiarity breeds success

There is a lot to be said for familiarity and Eller has played the center ice position for most of his career.

He has been trained to be the man to cover down low. He has been bred to be the player who carries the puck through the neutral zone, and he has been trained to excel in the faceoff circle.

When a player is then asked to forget everything that he has learned in order to play a different position, this can take years to perfect.

Changing his position would be asking Eller to find open ice instead of trying to hit teammates with a pass. He would be asked to keep his head on a swivel in the defensive zone instead of pinning a guy to the boards, and asked to learn the art of board play including the ability to chip pucks out of the zone.

The biggest change, however, would be from learning how to find the teammate and make the perfect pass, to shooting the puck.

Simply put Eller is a set up man. He is a playmaker who makes his teammates better. Trying to change a player from a pass to shoot mentality, has often been tried but very rarely accomplished.

If Eller is to succeed at the NHL level then he must be comfortable.


Conclusion

Lars Eller is going to be a Montreal Canadien when the start of the 2010-11 campaign begins on October 7th, 2010.

Many will argue that he has the tools to succeed as a winger, and in my opinion it's hard to disagree with that statement.

Despite his tools to succeed as a winger, however, Eller is a natural center and one that fills an organizational need that has been around for more than 15 years.

Take a look down the pipeline and you’ll see that the Canadiens have a bevy of upcoming size and talent on the wing.

Look downthe middle, however, and you'll see many kids with talent but very few who are 6’0 or taller.

For more than 15 years the various GM's have tried to address this problem and we finally have a player who has been developed in an excellent organization, who was a member of the AHL All-Rookie team, and one of the most highly touted prospects in the NHL.

So why do we feel the need to change him?

Read Tyg's She Said counter-point.

---
Willey was the shinning light among the wicked growing up as the lone Habs fan in Toronto. Pray to Holy Ghosts of the old forum and all shall be answered I was told, and just like that my family was transferred back to Montreal and away from the damned. Olé Olé Olé.

Posted in: canadiens,habs,lars eller,montreal canadiens,St. Louis Blues