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Green's days are numbered |
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The reality of an NHL training camp is that the vast majority of players won’t be around for long. Some will be gone and soon forgotten, as soon as within the next day or two.
Others will find a spot somewhere within the team’s farm system, and a few will return to junior hockey, their ultimate outcome remaining uncertain.
Of all the players in camp, though, none hold the unique scenario that accompanies defenseman Mike Green. Entering the final season of a three-year deal he signed with the Wings as an unrestricted free agent in 2015, unless the Wings shock the hockey world and return to status as a playoff team, Green could best be described as a placeholder, like one of those seat fillers hired to work awards shows to ensure that no empty spots are seen during the TV broadcast of the event.
Green, 31, will be a Wing when the NHL season gets underway. Of that you can be certain. And by the time the regular-season concludes, Green won’t be a Red Wing.
Of this you can be almost equally as certain.
To the Wings, Green is a bargaining chip, an asset to be played when the time is right in an attempt to brighten Detroit’s future prospects.
This is a reality he understands and accepts, even if deep down, he’d rather in not come to pass.
“I do love it here, so we’ll see,” Green said. “Hopefully things work out but really I’m just worried about playing day to day.”
Someone with the ability to score goals from the back end, Green is a defenseman who can boost a power play. It’s why the Wings originally signed him and why when the time comes, they will have little trouble finding a contender willing to take Green off their hands around the NHL trade deadline.
“You don’t want to base it on your contract year but I think maybe you’re a little more aware,” Green admitted of the likelihood that as the season progresses, his value to the Wings will be about how much his departure can garner the club.
“I think as a professional day to day you have the same focus no matter whether it’s a contract year or not. Your approach to the game day in and day out is the same. I don’t change anything.”
At some point this season, expect something to change for Green - the uniform he wears.
Injury Front
Defenseman Niklas Kronwall again sat out training camp Sunday due to back spasms. He was joined on the sideline by forward Givani Smith, who is ailing with a lower-body injury.
No News
Red Wings GM Ken Holland met on the weekend with Darren Ferris, agent for restricted free agent forward Andreas Athanasiou, but no common ground was found to hammer out a contract that was acceptable to both sides and Athanasiou remains a training camp holdout.
Ferris did not respond to texts seeking an update on the status of the negotiations.
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill was blunt in his assessment of the situation.
“My focus is to make sure we have a plan in place for the guys that are here,” Blashill said. “I always focus on the guys that are available to me.”
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