from Alex Prewitt of Capitals Insider,

Over the coming month, if he has not already, Washington Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan will field calls from suitors courting the services of defenseman Mike Green. At that moment, MacLellan, his scouts and the coaching staff will judge whether the proposed haul outweighs, at worst, the potential for keeping Green until season’s end then watching him walk, unable to reconcile a contract extension given his demands and their salary cap room. And if the value of Green is being discussed, games like Tuesday night might come to the fore.

MacLellan hasn’t shied away from expressing his opinion on Green, all but proclaiming that only a win-now haul would entice the Capitals into parting with the blue-liner they raised as a 2004 first-rounder. Draft picks and prospects would send the wrong message to the locker room, MacLellan said. Upgrading the defensive corps, rejuvenated under assistant Todd Reirden and bolstered with the offseason signings of Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, seems beyond the radar. But if an offer comes in that addresses an area of need in the forwards, MacLellan hasn’t ruled out considering that.

continued