Mike Green returns to the Detroit Red Wings lineup tonight

The Detroit Red Wings are anything but a “great” team with Green.  Without the veteran defender, the Wings are utterly terrible.

There is no way to sugar coat it.  The Detroit Red Wings are just a different team with and without the services of Mike Green.  On many other teams Green would be a 4th or 5th defenseman so why does this team rely so much on him?

It’s pretty simple, they don’t have much depth on the back-end, and he’s the most talented option we have at the moment.  Understanding it hasn’t been only Green who has been out with injuries.  Trevor Daley is a reliable defenceman, an above average skater but basically a shot blocking defensive defenseman.

Danny DeKeyser is basically a larger version of Daley, and not quite as reliable in his own zone.  I am not going to say he is Jonathan Ericsson or anything, but he’s closer to Ericsson than I expected he would be when they signed him after his college career with the Western Michigan Broncos.

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Losing three of the Detroit Red Wings top six defenders all in the same week was too much to overcome, especially knowing it is a below average group to start with. I expect Filip Hronek to remain in the lineup and Luke Witkowski to be the odd man out.

The Detroit Red Wings are 3-14-5 on the season in games Mike Green does not play.  To some, it doesn’t make any sense.  How can he impact this group that much?  Well, he has the ability to skate the puck out of trouble, he is a veteran that limits his mental errors.

He isn’t the “best” defender in his own zone, but he is much more reliable than he’s been previously through his career.   He used to be an offensive defenseman, while his offense has dipped with age he’s become a much more steady defenseman.

The Detroit Red Wings are 13-8-2 with Mike Green in their lineup.  He’s been limited to 23 games this season.  He started the season on IR with a liver infection, and more recently he’s been sidelined with a lower-body injury.  Yet, merely missing half the season he still leads the Wings defense corps with 16 points on the season.

I don’t expect the return of Mike Green will spark some crazy win streak that will save the Detroit Red Wings season or anything, but he should provide a spark to the power play which desperately is in need of a right-handed shot.  The Wings own the leagues 21st power-play that is only converting at a rate of 17% on the season.  Most of that success happened earlier in the season but it has perked up of late.

He should help with the defensive zone exits while he is on the ice, also per puckbase.com Green leads the Wings in an interesting possession statistic. During five on five play, while Green is on the ice, the team averages 9 more shots for than against on average.

Green is averaging a tick under 22:00 TOI per game and is a plus 10 on the season.  His return certainly won’t solve all the Wings woes, but he will be a welcoming upgrade.