The Detroit Red Wings seem to have drifted away from free agents and now are looking to trades to help them fill their need of acquiring a top-four defenseman. According to reports, the Red Wings are close to filling that need as they’re reportedly close to acquiring Washington Capitals Defensemen Mike Green.
The deal for Green would land the Caps young goal scorer Tomas Tatar. The deal would make sense for the Capitals for two reasons. First, they can clear much needed cap space after signing Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen. Secondly, they no longer need Green’s services after those two signings. The deal would help Detroit in the regard that Green is the defensemen that their looking for. Detroit has the cap space to make the deal happen if they wanted to get this done. Green has spent his entire career in a Capitals jersey, and where as this deal is good for both sides, it also has its down sides.
The bad news for Detroit in this deal is that they’d trade away one of their top goal scorers from last season. Another thing possibly bad about this deal is that Green may not sign an extension. It wouldn’t seem like a good move to trade a goal scorer for a one year rental unless Green decides to sign an extension. The Wings may sign Daniel Alfredsson next month, which would kill some cap space. This trade would almost be an indication that Alfredsson is guaranteed to resign. The Capitals’ only issue with this trade is Tomas Tatar’s playing ability. How do the Caps know they’re getting the young goal scorer from last season? If the deal goes through, it’ll be interesting to see how it affects both sides.
Photo Credit: Nick Wass, AP