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Caps send Mike Green a $5 million qualifying offer

Tom Pyatt, Tomas Vokoun, Mike Green

Washington Capitals’ Mike Green, center, defends against Tampa Bay Lightning’s Tom Pyatt, left, in front of Capitals goalie Tomas Vokoun, of Czech Republic, during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. The Lightning won 2-1. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson)

AP

Mike Green is scheduled to become a restricted free agent after completing his four-year/$21 million contract, but it wasn’t a foregone conclusion that the Washington Capitals would give him a qualifying offer.

Green’s stock has fallen significantly after back-to-back injury-riddled seasons. All the same, the size of a qualifying offer is determined by your previous salary. In Green’s case, that meant the Capitals had to present Green with a $5 million offer in order to retain his rights.

In the end, they opted to give Green a qualifying offer. It wouldn’t be surprising if he simply accepted it and used the one-year contract to prove himself before seeking a long-term deal.

From Washington’s perspective, it certainly helps that they’re projected to have quite a bit of cap flexibility anyways. According to Cap Geek, they currently have $45,032,349 committed to 17 players. In other words, they can afford to add Green at $5 million and still have room to make a significant addition this summer.

They also sent qualifying offers to John Carlson, Jay Beagle, and Mathieu Perreault. Of the three, Carlson’s $826,875 was the richest.