Lars Eller was already a little off-kilter.
Having made a flight across the continent with the Washington Capitals to sunny Anaheim, Calif. on Feb. 28, 2023, he was dealing with jet lag and a three-hour time difference.
And the phone call he received the morning of March 1 didn’t help matters.
The sturdy third-line center had been traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
And he was asked to get to Denver that day to suit up for his new employer.
“I got a phone call around 10 o’clock in the morning (informing him of the trade),” said Eller, today a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. “I waited in my (hotel) room until (Avalanche management) called me and told me what flight and what airport I was going to go to. They said, ‘If you can get there in time, would you be willing to play? We could really use you.’ When (Avalanche president and franchise icon) Joe Sakic asks you that, it’s hard to say no. And you’re excited. You just say, ‘Yeah, of course.’
“I leave the hotel around noon, go to the airport and fly from Anaheim to Colorado. I get picked up with my gear and two suitcases and go straight to the rink. I get there like 6:30 (p.m.) for a 7 o’clock game. I walk in the room and I don’t know a single guy. I change as fast as I can and I get out there a couple of minutes late for the warmup. It was a weird experience but pretty memorable and unique. Fun, interesting and unique experience.”
That experience of being traded — while an accepted component of being a professional athlete — is often inconvenient.
AP
The Washington Capitals traded forward Lars Eller to the Colorado Avalanche on March 1, 2023.
Especially when those transactions happen in-season.
Several such maneuvers are bound to happen in the ensuing days leading up to the league’s trade deadline Friday.
A handful of players on the Penguins’ current roster have been subject to in-season trades.
“Obviously, it’s a nerve-wracking time for anybody,” said defenseman Marcus Pettersson, whom the Penguins acquired from the Anaheim Ducks via trade Dec. 3, 2018. “I was fortunate that when I got traded, I was pretty young. And the first time going through it, I think coming into a locker room like this, it really helped me. Everybody met me with open arms. You could see the culture right away.
“For sure, a nerve-wracking time if you’re getting traded or you’re not. Things are going to happen. It’s a business. All you can do is try to focus on what you put on the ice. That’s all you can do really.”
Ignoring all the click-bait stories or posts on social media are also something a player can do. However the temptation of looking at what is mostly baseless speculation is natural.
“In the past few years, I’ve been in them (rumors) and stuff like that,” Penguins defenseman Ryan Graves said. “You’re on an expiring deal, you’re on a team that’s not doing well, your name is always on them. You tease your anxiety, you just can’t read it. But if something happens, you’re the first to know. You kind of have insight of what’s happening anyway. You can be blindsided but you usually have somewhat of an idea of what’s going on.
“I have Twitter. But I try to not read too much of it.”
Still, the writing can be on the wall for players in specific situations.
AP
The Anaheim Ducks traded defenseman Marcus Pettersson to the Penguins on Dec. 3, 2018.
Such as those on expiring contracts with teams out of playoff contention.
That was the case when the Penguins acquired forward Rickard Rakell from the Ducks on Feb. 21, 2022.
“I knew it was going to happen,” Rakell said. “It’s just the uncertainty of where you’re going to go, how you’re going to fit in, are you going to have a better chance of winning, is it going to be a better situation, is it going to be a worse situation? You don’t really know. It’s scary. … Back then, I had only been to Anaheim for my whole career. I was comfortable there. I didn’t know how it was going to be like to play in a new organization.”
Graves has been traded twice in his career but only once did he move in-season. On Feb. 26, 2018, the New York Rangers dealt Graves, then a prospect, to the Avalanche.
“Hectic,” Graves said. “You obviously don’t want to miss games (with the new team). Usually, you’re traveling the next day or two days after depending on schedules. Then your stuff and your life is an afterthought. When I got traded, I was at least younger and I was living by myself. It was a little bit easier. If I were to be traded mid-season now (with a significant other), I can’t imagine how hectic that would be, especially if you were someone with kids and things like that. I’ve had guys come in on teams that I’ve played with and they come in mid-season and their families just stay in their old city … which is hard on guys.
“Getting traded is never easy but in-season is very tough. You see sports and you think it’s pieces on a chess board but there’s people involved and families. There’s a human aspect to it that is hard at times.”
AP The New York Rangers traded defenseman Ryan Graves to the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 26, 2018.
For Pettersson, his trade to the Penguins had rotten timing from a real estate perspective.
“We just got a housing letter to get an apartment in Anaheim,” Pettersson said. “We were in there for two and a half weeks maybe (before the trade). My wife (Beatrice) stayed for a bit. She stayed for a few months. I only stayed in that place for two months and I got traded. Everything outside of hockey turns upside down for a little bit. It helped for me that I got to play right away.”
Eller has been traded three times in his career but his move between the Capitals and Avalanche was his first transaction during a season. And with a wife as well as two children, the adjustment was considerable.
“That’s the toughest part of this profession, having to move your life potentially after a 30-second phone call,” Eller said. “That’s the downside. Not everybody has family but the guys that do, that’s not a fun situation but you’ve just got to go through it for a couple of months. It is what it is.”
Some members of the Penguins current — or future — roster could experience what that is in the upcoming days.
It’s just a fact of life in the NHL and all professional sports.
“After that deadline, you can’t get traded,” Eller said. “But you’ve been able to get traded for the last nine months. That doesn’t really change. You know that’s always a possibility. Anybody can get moved.”