Local reporters tracked down general manager George McPhee for a brief update on defenseman Mike Green. He told us Green would meet the team in Colorado. The Caps arrive there on Friday following an afternoon practice in Winnipeg. Haven’t seen Green around the facility at Kettler Iceplex this week. Last time I saw him he was in the locker room after the Toronto win last Friday. Green saw a specialist earlier this week.
“I don’t know a lot right now. We’ll know more in a couple days when [Green] joins the team,” McPhee said.
Green has missed 15 games in a row and 21 of the last 22. He suffered a right ankle injury against Detroit on Oct. 22, returned for one game on Nov. 11 against New Jersey and was driven into the boards by Devils forward Ryan Carter, suffering a groin injury in the process. The 26-year-old defenseman has played in eight games this season. Last year he played in just 49 games thanks to an early-season shoulder injury and then a pair of concussions that cost him the final two months of the regular season. Washington is 8-0 with Green in the lineup and 7-13-1 without him.
McPhee said “not necessarily” when asked if Green had gone to see a groin specialist – as teammate Tom Poti has had to do multiple times in the past 12 months. But it’s clear the team is trying to figure out a new way forward.
“He would make progress, then plateau,” McPhee said. “Make progress then plateau. We’re just trying to see if we can just get him over the final hill.”
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