Ouellet joins Green with Redwings’ DeKeyser out 3-4 weeks

Mike Green wants to get acclimated to his new team, and Xavier Ouellet wants to grab an opportunity.tmpplchld The ugly side of the preseason hit the Detroit Red Wings Friday morning, when MRI results revealed that top-four defenseman Danny DeKeyser will miss 3-4 weeks with a sprained ligament in his left foot.tmpplchld Most immediately, it means finding a new partner for Green. The Wings opted for Ouellet because he plays a smart, safe game, the kind needed opposite an offensive juggernaut such as Green.tmpplchld “I have a pretty good idea of the way he plays,” Ouellet said. “I know he likes to skate with the puck, so my job is to get it to him in good conditions so he can have more time with it.tmpplchld “Injuries are unfortunate, but it is something that happens, and it creates opportunity for a younger guy. It is our job to take the opportunity and make the best of it.”tmpplchld Ouellet is trying to make the Wings but is vulnerable because he can be sent down without waivers. Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill called Ouellet “a very smart hockey player” but didn’t commit to the pairing for beyond Friday’s game.tmpplchld Friday is only Green’s second game of the exhibition season, as he had been dealing with a tender groin. Injuries aside, Green is relishing being with a new team after nearly a decade in Washington. It didn’t hurt that, after Friday morning skate, Wings legend Ted Lindsay came up and told Green how much he was looking forward to seeing Green play.tmpplchld “I am over the moon with how things have gone,” Green said.tmpplchld With the season opener a week away, Green is eager to get fine-tuned.tmpplchld “When you go to a new team, guys have certain things that you pick up on that they do really well, and you want to sort of emphasize that,” Green said. “My job is just to get the puck in the forwards’ hands and let them do their work.tmpplchld “It is just getting the system down and feeling good on the ice. Overall, everything has been so positive for myself.”tmpplchld New teammates are well aware of just how skilled Green is with the puck. But seeing him close up has offered a fresh pleasantry.tmpplchld “I knew he had great vision and great hands before,” forward Johan Franzen said, “but he is a better skater than I knew he was. He can really fly out there, and he can take the puck up the ice and enter a zone, he has just got that natural skating ability. He is going to help us a lot.”tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 Detroit Free Presstmpplchld Visit the Detroit Free Press at www.freep.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld