The Capitals may be without forward Lars Eller in Wednesday's Game 1 against the New York Islanders even if he is cleared by the NHL in time to play. That was the thought of head coach Todd Reirden on Monday who expressed he would have to make a decision to avoid any possible injury that could keep him out longer.
Eller left the bubble in Toronto for the birth of his second child. He is now back in Toronto under quarantine in his room and cannot leave until he tests negative four times over a four-day period, per NHL protocols. It is unclear when Eller took his first test. If it was Monday, he will not be ready in time for Wednesday's game. If it was on Sunday, there's a chance he could be cleared to play by Wednesday.
"The NHL will be the ones that decide that, have the overall final call on it," Reirden said.
But even if Eller just manages to clear before the 3 p.m. game time on Wednesday, there's a chance he still may not play.
While under quarantine, Eller is not allowed to leave his hotel room at all.
"He's not allowed to leave his hotel room, so he hasn't been doing any exercise outside of his room and until we're told differently that will be how it is," Reirden said.
That could be a problem.
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Eller first left the bubble on Aug. 5. By Wednesday, he will have gone a week without being on the ice or being able to exercise, beyond whatever he can do in his room. Typically in these situations, players get a practice in before getting back into the game lineup and Reirden made it clear on Monday that he may have to consider sitting Eller for Game 1 to prevent any sort of injury after missing a week.
"I think it's something you have to consider is the player hasn't been on the ice," Reirden said. "He obviously plays a huge role on our team and if you remember a few years ago the success and kind of the X factor that he was for our team when we won against Vegas. So I think it's important that we handle this situation and make the proper the decision to give this player the best chance to be able to, if it's not Game 1, then he's ready to go for Game 2 and he's as close to healthy in terms of conditioning-wise, he's ready to go on the ice and be able to add the things he can add and do it safely so that we can have him for an extended time here in this playoffs because he is definitely a big factor in our team success."
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If Eller is out, Travis Boyd will likely play in his place. Boyd centered the third line in Eller's absence in the last two round robin games.
Luckily, that is the only real question mark down the middle for Washington. Nicklas Backstrom, who missed a practice last week but played against the Boston Bruins on Sunday, said Monday that he had "no concerns" in terms of his status heading into the playoffs.
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Capitals could sit Lars Eller even if he is cleared in time for Game 1 against the Islanders originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
