Mike Green

Green is full of pluses and minuses. He is excellent on offense and underrated for the most part defensively (although he does have lapses at key times). I saw him play in person and payed close attention in game 2 vs. Philly, and was frankly appalled at his defensive skills (or lack thereof). I like him quarterbacking the point during the power play, I like the way he shoots the puck and moves, but sometimes I just can't stand how bad his defense is. According to Japer's Rink, Green was third on the Caps in takeaways (but third among NHL defensemen in giveaways). This is why I say he's underrated defensively, because he paired a ton of takeaways with a +6 plus/minus rating. Even though my impression of his defense makes me want to vomit, I can't say he's any worse than average, because his numbers indicate exactly the opposite.

That all being said, Mike Green is freakin' awesome on the power play (8 goals), led all NHL defensemen in goals (18) and netted 4 game winners (3 in OT), plus was Captain Clutch in game 1 of the playoffs, scoring the 3rd and 4th (tying) goals before Ovechkin won it. But he was more Captain Choke altogether in the playoffs, giving away the puck at key points and posting a -2 plus/minus rating.

The point: I love Mike Green. He is the best offensive defender we have, and whenever he is paired with Shaone Morrisonn (rather than Ovechkin beside him on the power play), I'm not afraid of his defensive faults, as Morrisonn can pick up the slack when needed. The problem: Green led all NHL defensemen in goals scored! Some stupid GM is going to throw a crazy amount of money at him. At what point do we just move on? I mean, 95% of the voters at Japer's Rink said they had a satisfaction rating of at least 8 on a scale of 1 (lowest)-10 (highest) of Green's achievements based on his potential. Can we afford to lose him at any price? Obviously if someone throws Ovechkin money at him, a pat on the back and a "good luck" will be given, but the guy is still only 22 years old. He's got potential like the Spears family has baby daddy drama.

My personal opinion: Offer him 5 years at $4 mil apiece to start, be willing to shell out as much as $5.5 mil over 6 years if he'll take it before going on the market. If he hits the market, I say it's about a 65% chance he gets priced out of the Caps' range...not because they won't shell out the money for him, but because it will be hard for them to tie up that much money for the long term (the next 4-6 years) in just 2 players.