Florida Panthers' Lars Eller Will Hit Impressive Games Played Milestone Against The Chicago Blackhawks

When the Florida Panthers take the ice tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks, Lars Eller will skate in his 1,200th regular-season game. 

Eller was originally the 13th overall pick in the 2007 NHL draft, selected by the St. Louis Blues. Eller played just seven games for the Blues before moving on to the Montreal Canadiens.

He had some strong seasons with the Canadiens, but Eller shone brightest with the Washington Capitals. With the Capitals, Eller posted his career-high in goals and points and won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18. Eller was outstanding in that run, scoring seven goals and 18 points in 24 games. 

Following his successful tenure with the Capitals, Eller had stops with the Colorado Avalanche, Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators and now the Panthers.

Eller has been solid for the Panthers, even if the offense isn't great. In 15 games, he's notched one goal and eight points while averaging 15:39 of ice time. Surprisingly, Eller hasn't been very successful in the faceoff dot, winning just 40.8 percent of his draws. 

Although Eller is approaching a major milestone that just 141 other players in the NHL have achieved, Eller is still focused on earning the two points and not underestimating a weaker opponent.

“You underestimate that team, and they can beat us if we're not on top of our game,” said Eller. “We barely got by them in Chicago. I think they're going to be competitive. If we think it's going to be easy, we'll probably lose.”

The 37-year-old is slated to skate on the right wing of the third line with Eetu Luostarinen and Anton Lundell. In the eight games they've spent time together, the Panthers’ third line has posted an expected goals percentage of 72.2 percent, according to moneypuck.com.

See more of The Hockey News on Google and save us as a preferred source. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.