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.