Report: Canadiens' Eller available on trade market
As the Montreal Canadiens continue to fall in the standings, general manager Marc Bergevin is preparing to unload assets by the trade deadline on Feb. 29.
Related: 'Very little contract talk' between Canadiens, Weise
Pending unrestricted free agents Dale Weise, Tom Gilbert and Tomas Fleischmann are all expected to be in play, but other players under contract beyond this season could be on the move as well.
Lars Eller is available on the trade market, reports Darren Dreger on TSN's "Insider Trading" segment Thursday.
"There are a couple of NHL teams who are surprised that we don't have Eller's name on our trade bait board yet. Well he'll be on the board because they say he's been available for quite some time now," Dreger said. "Not suggesting that Bergevin is trying to shop him or feverishly pushing him out the door. He has two years remaining at $3.5 million. Perhaps there's interest considering the versatility of that forward."
Eller has 10 goals and eight assists in 58 games this season.
Western Conference scout gave me this assessment on Lars Eller a month ago: Ideal shutdown centre on any team in the NHL--even the best ones
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) February 7, 2016
The 26-year-old is in the second year of a four-year, $14-million contract, and could entice a team looking for a third line shutdown center.