The center wasn’t in the Danish team that took part in the IIHF World Championships held in Denmark this month.
As a result, he wasn’t on the ice when the Danes shocked Finland only to lose a heartbreaker to Latvia and miss out on the knockout stages. He won’t mind though. He has bigger fish to fry.
Instead, Eller has been lacing up for his Washington Capitals in the NHL playoffs and thanks to a game seven win against the Tampa Bay Lightning last night, he will be just the second Dane to appear in a Stanley Cup Final and could become the first to win the coveted trophy.
Jannik Hansen came close in 2011, but missed out with the Vancouver Canucks in 2011 in a tough game-seven loss to the Boston Bruins.
READ MORE: A bright future ahead for Danish Hockey
Against all odds
Eller isn’t among the big stars on the Capitals roster – the likes of Alex Ovechkin, T J Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov have him beat there – but he has made a solid contribution in the playoffs so far, notching up 13 points in 19 games.
Eller and the Capitals face the big surprise of the season, the newly founded expansion side Vegas Golden Knights, who knocked out another Dane, Nikolaj Ehlers, and the Winnipeg Jets to reach the finals. In fact, before the season started the Golden Knights were a 500-1 bet to win the Stanley Cup.
The first game of the best-of-seven series will be played on May 28 (US time).
