Eller, Wheeler head to Europe; Craig Smith coming back

• Lars Eller will join the Bruins' Rich Peverley on Finland's JYP
• Craig Smith cites personal reasons for returning from KalPa Koupio
• Blake Wheeler will play for a team in Munich

The Finnish Elite League is gaining one NHL player while losing another.

Montreal Canadiens center Lars Eller, who's Danish, agreed to join JYP Jyvaskyla. Rich Peverley of the rival Boston Bruins already plays for JYP.

Eller, who scored 16 goals last season, is scheduled to make his debut on Friday.

Heading back to North America is Nashville Predators center Craig Smith, who had played for Kalpa Koupio. He cited personal reasons.

He opened with a four-point game and finished with four goals and four assists in eight games. KalPa expects to look to replace him sometime next month.

Although he was enjoying his experience, and doing quite well on the ice, he feels that skating and training in Madison is the best option for him to prepare for the upcoming season," his agent, Kevin Magnuson, told The (Nashville) Tennessean. "The Kalpa team and management could not have been better and Craig is very appreciative for the opportunity to have the tremendous life experience that he did."

Late last week, Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Anders Lindback signed with Ilves Tampere of the Finnish league.

Meanwhile, Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler agreed to join HC Red Bull in Munich, Germany. He had 64 points in 80 games last season.

He'll be the fifth NHL player in Germany's top league, joining the Philadelphia Flyers' Claude Giroux and Danny Briere (Berlin), Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn (Hamburg) and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (Krefeld).