Mike Green, former Capitals defenseman, settling into new role with Red Wings

His work finished and his body spent, Mike Green skated toward the visitor’s bench at Verizon Center, pulled up along the boards and lurched forward, leaning on the butt of his stick. There, a Detroit Red Wings staffer met him with a simple request: Would he mind stopping for a moment to take a photo, right there in the arena that fostered the first decade of Green’s professional career?

Green obliged, taking a few strides to his right for what would likely be one of many such moments over the coming hours. Once assistant coach Tony Granato opened the camera application on the iPhone and steadied his hands, the two men paused and smiled. There, on Green’s chest, the red embroidered winged-wheel logo popped in prominent contrast to the rest of his black defenseman’s sweater.

It has been 28 games since Green signed a three-year, $18 million contract with the Red Wings, leaving the Washington Capitals and moving 500-plus miles to his new home. It has also been five months of significant change: Green and his wife, Courtney, bought a home in Birmingham, Michigan and are expecting their first child this spring.

In order to move on, though, it can often help to say goodbye, which Green was able to do on Tuesday night as the Red Wings visited the Capitals for the first and only time this season. 

“The transition was fairly easy,” Green said. “It took us a while to sort of get settled in our home and whatnot, but as far as the hockey goes, everything went smooth.”

Green debuted with the Capitals in 2005, forming a cornerstone with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom that would lead to a string of playoff appearances and rejuvenate a historically listless franchise. A two-time Norris Trophy finalist, Green is the only defenseman in the salary cap era to score more than 30 goals in a season; for those reasons, a banner with his likeness hung six stories down the side of a parking garage attached to the Capitals’ practice facility.

That only made the separation more difficult. Green was reduced to the third pairing last season after the Capitals acquired Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, and though he relished the decreased workload — he played six fewer minutes a game than he had in the previous seven seasons, which he believed kept him fresh — he also believed he could still be highly productive.

Green had been eyeing the Red Wings for some time, just as the Red Wings had been studying him, and when the free-agent signing period began on July 1, the offer was accepted as swiftly as it had been extended.

There was no chance of a return to the Capitals, given each side’s wants and needs, making the separation more amicable than most involving a player of Green’s stature.

“I mean, I was just a piece of the puzzle, really,” Green said. “I didn’t do anything spectacular other than enjoy playing the game here.”

Entering Tuesday, Green had one goal and 10 assists, settling in after a right shoulder injury cost him six games in late October and early November. He returned in time for Detroit’s first game against the Capitals on Nov. 10, then played a second game against his former teammates eight days later.

Since then, Green has returned to a top-four role, forming a steady partnership with defenseman Niklas Kronwall, and has been routinely deployed on the power play, a responsibility he had for so long in Washington. At just over 21 minutes a game, his ice time has increased over last season, but not to the level that was a challenge to bear in previous years.

“I think he obviously brings a different element than what we’ve had here,” Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. “He’s a real elite offensive player, and as he’s grown comfortable with the way we want to play and attack offensively, he’s been really, really dynamic at times.”

After the Red Wings’ morning skate at Joe Louis Arena on Nov. 10, Green stripped off his equipment, showered quickly and headed back to the ice, showing up just to wish his old teammates well. On Monday night, after the Red Wings’ charter flight arrived and Green checked into the team hotel, he had an opportunity to catch up with Backstrom.

The affinity goes both ways. As was the case with Joel Ward and Eric Fehr, who returned to Washington with new teams earlier this season, the Capitals recognized Green’s return with a tribute video — one which received a standing ovation from the crowd when it was played during the first period.

 

A year ago, Green was terrified of the mere prospect of such a significant transition. Yet, as he posed on the ice on Tuesday morning, he was able to capture another special moment, filing it away as the end of one journey and the start of another.

“They’re all good memories,” Green said. “I spent 10 years here and created a lot of friends and memories with those friends, especially with a lot of the guys in the dressing room. I’ll never forget that, for sure.”