Mike Green: Top Five Suitors For The Free Agent Defenseman

Colorado Avalanche

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

I’m not sure if the Colorado Avalanche will be looking to add a veteran to their group of blue liners. However, they probably should be because their blue line group isn’t that impressive. Mike Green would bring to the Avalanche what he brought to the Washington Capitals: a ton of offense.

The Avalanche have a fairly impressive forward group. They had five forwards in 2014-2015 who had over 50 points, so why have they struggled as of late? Why were they such a bad team this year after making the playoffs in 2013-2014? Well, part of it was because they ran out of puck luck. However, they also failed to get much production from their blue liners in 2014-2015. Tyson Barrie had a great year with 53 points. After him though, no other Colorado defenseman had more than 30 points. Erik Johnson was next with 23 (though he played in just 47 games). Colorado would obviously benefit from signing the former Washington Capitals defenseman.

If the Avalanche added Green, that would help ease the burden on Barrie and Johnson and help increase their offense that struggled at times in 2014-2015. Green has this false reputation of being a defensive liability. As someone who has watched every game of his since the start of the 2008 season, I strongly disagree with that. Green is no Norris contender these days, but man is he still good at getting the puck out of the defensive zone.

The Avalanche already have one former Washington Capitals star in Semyon Varlamov. Perhaps the Avalanche should sign another former Washington Capitals star?

Next: Could Green Be A Buffalo Soldier?