Lars Eller’s run in Ottawa is done, and his next stop is a familiar one.
On the first day of 2026 free agency, the veteran center agreed to a one-year, $850,000 deal with the Florida Panthers. The contract also includes up to $250,000 in performance bonuses, with most of that tied to games played.
That move sends Eller south to a team that already knows him well enough to make the fit easy to picture. He’ll be back with Brady Tkachuk, his Senators teammate from this past season, though the two left Ottawa on very different terms.
Eller played out his contract and reached free agency. Tkachuk still had two years left, but asked for a trade after the season, and Ottawa dealt him 10 days ago.
Eller’s year with the Senators started with some promise. He put up six points in his first 12 games, a decent opening stretch for a depth center. But injuries chipped away at his momentum, and over his final 56 games he managed just nine points.
He wrapped up the season with 15 points, along with 50 hits, 33 blocked shots and 67 shots on goal. He suited up for all four of Ottawa’s playoff games, though his ice time was limited to less than nine minutes per night. The one clear highlight came away from the NHL, when he got the chance to play at the Olympics in Milan with Team Denmark.
At 37, Eller looks set for a fourth-line role in Florida or a part-time spot in the lineup.
He won’t be the only ex-Senator in that locker room, either. Donovan Sebrango had a brief stint in Ottawa before the Panthers claimed the young defenseman off waivers from the Senators in October.
Sebrango is heading back to Florida as well. The Panthers didn’t extend him a qualifying offer, which made him a UFA, but there was still interest in keeping him after he became an NHL semi-regular for the first time in his career.
He played 40 games for Florida this season and finished with 0 goals and 8 assists. According to THN’s David Dwork, the Panthers signed him to a one-year deal.
Florida also added former Senator Boko Imama on Wednesday, and on Tuesday, they acquired forward Angus Crookshank in the Jacob Markstrom deal.
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Girouxs next step is shaping up to be one of the more important decisions of the summer for the Senators, especially with so many teams still sorting through their budgets and their depth charts. Ottawa has work to do in a market where scoring help is still available, but the longer this drags on, the more this becomes about where Giroux sees himself fitting for what could come next. [Read more 🡒]