Caps Re-Sign Green!

TSN and The Hockey News are reporting that the Caps have agreed to terms with restricted free agent defenceman Mike Greeen. It is rumored to be a four year deal with an average annual salary of $5.25 million. So what do you think? A fair deal? Too short a term?

The Deuce: I think it's a fair deal for both teams. Green gets paid as an elite player -- though not quite as elite as Phaneof, which, in my opinion, he's not. The Caps get a few years to see what they really have, but then they'll really have to pay up. At the end of this contract, Green will be 26 (just about to turn 27). Now unless my research is mistaken (which it very well may be), Green is eligible for UFA status at age 27 OR at 7 years NHL service. I don't THINK he reaches either by the end of that deal, as he'll be 26 until October 2012, and he doesn't qualify for 7 years by then either (I don't think he's played what qualifies as 3 NHL seasons, but again, I'm no NHL lawyer or agent). So hopefully the Caps get another crack at Green as an RFA before he hits the UFA market. But either way, if he keeps playing the way he did at the end of the year, and improves defensively, it'll be time to back the trucks up in 2012.