Is Mike Green the New Kevin Hatcher?

As former Caps offensive defenseman Kevin Hatcher gets ready to join the US Hockey Hall of Fame, I got to wondering how he compares to our current star offensive defenseman, Mike Green.

As Mike only has 4 full NHL seasons under his belt, I decided to start with his first full season and use Hatcher's seasons at the same age (so age 21-24).

MIKE GREEN

SEASON	AGE	GP	G	A	PTS
2006-2007	21	70	2	10	12
2007-2008	22	82	18	38	56
2008-2009	23	68	31	42	73
2009-2010	24	75	19	57	76
		295	70	147	217

KEVIN HATCHER

SEASON	AGE	GP	G	A	PTS
1987-1988	21	71	14	27	41
1988-1989	22	62	13	27	40
1989-1990	23	80	13	41	54
1990-1991	24	79	24	50	74
		292	64	145	209

Obviously, Mike's rookie season point totals don't compare to anything he's produced since then, but as far as development goes, it's important. From age 21 on, Hatcher is the more consistent of the two in offensive productivity. But even with a slow rookie season, Green manages to out-produce Hatcher (+6G, +2A in only 3 more games). It's also interesting to note that something important occurred after the 1989-1990 season that may have directly led to Hatcher's 20 point increase: the departure of top defender, Scott Stevens.

But Mike is THE man on the back line in DC these days and has been for 3 seasons. The big question is, what kind of production can we expect from him in the coming seasons? Let's take a look at Hatcher's age 25-27 seasons (his last 3 in a Caps jersey):


HATCHER (NEXT 3 SEASONS)

SEASON	AGE	GP	G	A	PTS
1991-1992	25	79	17	37	54
1992-1993	26	83	34	45	79
1993-1994	27	72	16	24	40
		234	67	106	173

Looking at Hatcher's next 3 season brings his 34 goal season into play (the same season Al Iafrate and Sylvain Cote also netted 20+ goals), which led all defenders. But that same season, Hatcher  also led in league in goals against while he was on the ice (162) while only managing to be the 7th most productive defenseman in the league. Kevin's goals seemed to come at the expense of his defense, something Green critics often point out.

In the end, it's really no contest. Kevin Hatcher was never considered the best defenseman in the league while Mike Green has done plenty to strengthen his case as the best. Mike Green has already led the league in goals and points by a defenseman for two consecutive seasons. As his maturity and understanding of the position increase (and all signs indicate that NHL defenders take some time to fully grow into the position, especially defensively) we could see some impressive offensive numbers for Mike in the coming seasons (and hopefully some on the defensive end as well).