As reported by McKenzie and Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun, the Montreal Canadiens are one of the teams interested in his services. The right-handed blue liner has 5 goals and 26 assists for 31 points and a +7 rating in 42 games with Washington this season. The Habs are in the market for a top-four defenseman and are willing to deal mid-level prospects and draft picks for a player like Green or Cody Franson, if the Capitals are willing to accept that kind of offer.
Green, who is in the last year of a three-year pact, has a cap hit of $6,083 million, which is not easy to fit under the salary cap. The oft-injured Green is currently in his prime and will be looking to cash in on one more long-term deal in excess of $6 million annually. The problem with that rumor is that even if the Capitals believe they won't re-sign Green in the off-season, they are still in the thick of the playoff race and would be stupid to unload Green without even replacing him on the blue line. The Capitals currently hold the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference with a 25-15-10 record as of February 2nd.
While Green is not playing on the team's top pairing any more after the acquisition of Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen in the off-season, the offensive specialist is still logging over 19 minutes of ice time per game. Green currently has 11 points on the man advantage and he is playing on the first power play unit with Alexander Ovechkin at the point. Do you really think the Caps would trade Green to the Habs with the chance of facing them in the playoffs? I highly doubt that!
The Canadiens currently don't have enough cap space to trade for Green without giving another roster player in return. Maybe if Marc Bergevin is able to convince Washington to take Alexei Emelin's off our hands, a deal could be possible, but it's not that simple since Emelin has a full no-movement clause. With Ovechkin, Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetzov, maybe Washington is a destination that could entice Emelin to waive his NMC because of the Russian Factor...
The problem regarding Green is not that he is a bad player, it's rather that he is another offensive-minded rearguard, which is not the Canadiens need for a long playoff run, with PK Subban, Andrei Markov, Nathan Beaulieu and Sergei Gonchar all moving the puck well and able to play on the PP. The Habs need a rugged defensman who can lay out thunderous hits, clear the front of the net and kill penalties efficiently.
Who would you want to acquire if you were Marc Bergevin?
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