McKenzie outlines Capitals' potential trade timeline for Green

Bob McKenzie was on NBCSN’s Intermission Report of the Flyers-Capitals game on Wednesday evening.

On how the success of the Capitals impacts how they’ll handle the future of Mike Green:

“Well, what’s happened in the offseason is they went out and signed obviously Niskanen and Orpik. That, along with Alzner and Carlson, that’s the top four defensemen. So now Mike Green, who makes $6.2 million, is effectively a third-pair D-man. Although he plays about the same minutes as Carlson. And he’s obviously a real threat on the power play. He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. I don’t necessarily believe the Washington Capitals are going to want to pay him exactly what he wants, both in terms of the term of the contract and the dollar value.

“So here’s what they’re going to do. They’re going to wait until they get closer to the deadline to see if they’re trending up, where they are right now, as a potential contender in the Eastern Conference. If they are, they might just say, ‘You know what? If he walks in the off-season, we’ll let him walk. But we need him now because he’s a big part of what we’re doing here.'

"Or, on the other hand, if they’re trending the other direction, and they’re not feeling contending status at the deadline – or Mike Green, if they think they could just live without him, well then they could trade him as a rental at the deadline. Take the considerations and go on their merry way.”

Source: NBCSN/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey