Mike Green, Eric Fehr will test open market, not return to Capitals
Mike Green and Eric Fehr are going to free agency and will not return to the Washington Capitals, according to their agent.
By
Adam Gretz
•
2 min read
It appears as if Mike Green and Eric Fehr have played their final games as members of the Washington Capitals.
Craig Oster, the agent for both players, told CSN Washington's Chuck Gormley on Thursday that the two players intend to test the open market.
"It’s a function of where the Capitals are as an organization, changes that have been made there and the salary cap as to why they weren't in a position to do much more than they were,"Oster told Gormley. "At the end of the day, it’s a decision by them as to how they make their best team and based on all the factors it wasn’t going to work out for Mike or Eric or the organization and both sides will continue to move on."
In what is one of the weaker free agent classes in recent memory both players should have no shortage of potential suitors and should have no trouble finding a new team on the open market.
Green, the No. 29 overall pick in the 2004 draft, has been one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL since becoming a regular on the Capitals' blue line. Since he will be turning 30 early this season he obviously isn't as productive as he was a few years ago when he was a consistent contender for the Norris Trophy and producing at an Erik Karlsson-like level, but he is still a dangerous player that can contribute top-pairing offense from the blue line and especially on the power play.
He has shortcomings at times defensively, and injuries have been a struggle for him throughout his career, but he is still one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL.
Fehr, 29, has spent all but one of his 10 NHL seasons with the Capitals (he played in Winnipeg during the 2011-12 season) and should be a highly sought after third-liner on the open market after scoring 19 goals this past season for the Capitals.
Fehr is one of the players on the free agent market teams have to be careful with. He can be a very good, useful play in a bottom-six role for a contending team, but in such a thin free agent market, especially when it comes to the forwards, he can quickly become a popular player and end up signing a contract that is great for him, but not great value for the team.
