Capitals send picks to Penguins for center Lars Eller, who won a Stanley Cup with Washington in 2018

PITTSBURGH (AP) - The Washington Capitals have reunited with veteran center Lars Eller.

Washington sent a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2027 third-round pick to Pittsburgh on Tuesday for Eller, who spent seven seasons with the Capitals and helped the club win the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2018.

The 35-year-old Eller had four goals and three assists in 17 games with Pittsburgh. He was in the second season of a two-year deal he signed with the Penguins in the summer of 2023.

Eller has 182 goals and 227 assists in 1,053 games with Montreal, Washington, Colorado and Pittsburgh. He remains a dependable two-way player and penalty killer and is rejoining a Washington team off to a hot start in the competitive Metropolitan Division. The Capitals entered play on Wednesday at 10-4-0, good enough for third in the division behind Carolina and New Jersey.

The move could be the first of several for Pittsburgh, which began Wednesday just two points clear of the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Penguins were whipped 7-1 by Dallas on Monday night, a game in which the Stars poured in six goals in the first period.

Evgeni Malkin apologized for the team’s performance on Tuesday.

“I want to say sorry to the fans," Malkin said. "They (watched) a really bad game. I hope we, together, find a good way, win tomorrow and start building the team better."

Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas has tried to straddle a line that keeps the team competitive in the twilight of the careers of franchise icons Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Kris Letang.

The team’s wobbly start highlighted by the struggles of goaltender Tristan Jarry and a porous defense - the Penguins are tied with Montreal for a minus-21 goal differential, the worst in the league - could lead to more substantial changes. Dubas has been intent on trying to beef up the team’s prospect pool and sending out Eller for two picks down the road is another step in that direction.