For the 2024-25 Capitals, there weren’t a ton of weaknesses in the lineup – but one area that did stand out was the third-line center position. Last season, the Caps gave up on Hendrix Lapierre quickly and traded for Lars Eller. Eller is a good defensive center and certainly can be useful when used correctly; the problem was that, at this point in his career, he’s more of a fourth-line line center. Having two 4Cs (albeit two very good 4Cs) in your bottom six is going to hurt your depth scoring, something which was clearly an issue for the Caps – particularly in the playoffs, where the team got exactly one five-on-five goal from that bottom six through 10 postseason games.
Third Line Center Options for the Capitals
