Report Card: Mike Green

The speed...we need to increase the speed.

Today I bring you the twenty-sixth installment in my "Report Card" series, as I continue my evaluation of each Capital throughout this past regular season and playoffs.  Today's player is puck-moving defenseman Mike Green, who finished his sixth season in the organization this year.

Stats/Season Summary: Green was limited by injuries to only 49 games this year, the majority of which were due to a concussion he suffered in February. Even when he was able to play, he was far from his regular offensive stud self, tallying only 8 goals and 24 points along with a +6 rating and 48 penalty minutes. He struggled offensively from the start; so I don't think it was the shift to defense first that hurt him; I just think he had a bad year.  Things were not right for him all season, and it ended up being a lost season for Greenie offensively.  His defense got better, and he was top-five on the team in hits and blocked shots despite those missed games, so there were some positives. Grade: B
Role Play: Mike Green is an offensive defenseman.  Not a stay-at-home, defensive defenseman; he's a scorer.  He had a very bad year by his standards offensively, and the fact that he played defense, while good in a large sense, is disturbing when you consider what makes him so valuable.  It is not a coincidence that the power play was so bad and Green was so bad, they are a big piece of one another.  He needs to be better offensively next season, no questions asked, and he needs to do it while keeping his defense up.  I get that his injuries were not ideal, but he's been nominated for two Norris Trophies. Grade: C
Playoffs: Despite his slow regular season offensively, Green had a good playoffs, scoring a goal and adding five assists to go along with and even rating and 8 PIMs in eight games.  He missed that one game because of a hip flexor injury he suffered in game three of the Tampa series.  When he was able to play, he looked good; he did his job for the most part and didn't look out of place. Overall, a very solid performance. Grade: A-
Future Potential: Green is signed for one more year before he becomes a free agent, and he is going to be a big part of the Caps next year (obviously).  He'll have a full summer to get completely healthy and focused, and he will have a big year next year to try and amp his next contract up.  The skill set is still there, and like I said before, this is a two time Norris nominee.  He's gonna be good as long as he plays to his strengths - speed and attack. Grade: A-

The next report card will be posted on June 14th and will feature center Nicklas Backstrom.