If you started watching hockey just recently and have taken a look at the Carolina Hurricanes you’ll see that the team has been struggling for the last couple of season. One key guy in the Hurricanes struggles has been number twenty-eight Alexander Semin. When Carolina signed the enigmatic Russian forward in the summer of 2012 they were hoping that he would bring his potentially explosive offense with him. An explosive offense that produced two thirty goal seasons and one forty goal season in his seven seasons in Washington D.C. In total Alex Semin scored 197 goals in the red, white and blue of the Washington Capitals.
The Hurricanes who had not seen the playoffs since 2009 were hoping Alex Semin would bring that offense and help make a push to the playoffs. It didn’t work. You can’t blame Semin for that, most people knew what the Hurricanes were getting when they signed Alex Semin, a guy who had most likely seen his best season but still very capable of putting up twenty to thirty goals if not more. Semin gave them that, in the lockout shortened season in 2013 Alex Semin was on pace for over twenty goals scoring thirteen goals in forty-four games, and then potted another twenty-two goals in the sixty-five games in the 2013-14 season.
The 2014-15 season put a bad mark on the career of Alex Semin. Scoring only six goals in fifty-seven games, the only thing Semin brought to an NHL team which was scoring goals was seeming to dry up. Alex Semin has gathered a reputation of not being able to play defense at all, and not caring about all eighty-two regular season games.
Defensively Alex Semin is not the worst. He’s obviously not the best but how often do you get a forty goal scorer who plays defense? Not often. The defense Semin plays is good enough for whats he brings offensively. You can’t defend his lackadaisical play during some games and even certain stretches of games. If Alex Semin gave 100% effort for at least eighty games maybe he could go back to his thirty or forty goal season days.
After his six goals in fifty-seven games, even with an excuse of injuries and a wrist problem that could very well hurt his very threatening shot the Carolina Hurricanes bought out the contract of Alex Semin making him a free agent. Most people assume that Semin won’t get very many contract offers and will eventually sign with a team in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia. Semin has come out and said that he has no interest in the KHL and instead will look for a short contract and stay in the NHL.
That now asks the question, Where? What team will sign a thirty-one year old goal scorer who scored just six goals and has “character issues”. Believe it or not there should be plenty of teams interested and situation that not only benefit the team who signs him but Alex Semin as well. The team that takes a risk on Semin should be a playoff team. It doesn’t make too much sense for a non playoff team to sign Semin, at thirty-one years old he won’t bring much to a bad team. What teams could or should he go to, lets take a look.
New York Rangers- Why not? Most of that team is defensively sound, they prove that every single year and they get better when the games get tighter in the playoffs. For a team that had trouble scoring at times during the playoffs, add a player who was once a thirty goal scorer and ease the pressure on some of the other scorers on this team. Adding Alex Semin won’t hurt the team, you can sign him to a one year deal worth $3-4 million. They have enough cap room and having a chance to win a Cup might get more out of Semin.
Nashville Predators- The leading goal scorer on this team was rookie Filip Forsberg scoring twenty-six goals. If Alex Semin were to find his scoring touch he would be the leading goal scorer on a playoff team. That being said the Predators did average 2.72 goals per game last season obviously spreading the wealth, they could add Semin and hope he finds the net another twenty to thirty times. Again cap space is not a problem, the Predators have a ton of space whether or not they want to spend that much is a issue I don’t know but Semin should come fairly cheap and has good potential even at age thirty-one.
Anaheim Ducks- It’s surprising that a team stacked with talent on both offense and defense has as much cap room as they have. It’s not often you have a Stanley Cup contending team with more than seventeen million to spend. The Ducks just lost Matt Beleksey in free agency to Boston, that’s twenty goals the Ducks need to make up somewhere. Why not try Semin? Give him a one year prove me contract and he can give you twenty plus goals playing with Getzlaf.
Pittsburgh Penguins- Every other offensive weapon that hits the rumor mill seems to have Pittsburgh written all over it. The Penguins just acquired Phil Kessel to play with either Crosby or Malkin, wherever Kessel doesn’t play, put Alex Semin there. If the Penguins want to keep adding offense add Semin for cheap.
Calgary Flames- I don’t see this working at all but I figured, why not? Calgary would never sign Semin because the culture of that team right now is work hard and a team game, things Alex Semin are not known for. Another team that spreads the wealth offensively, they have the cap room if the hard work and team game clicks for Semin why not try.
Washington Capitals- Save the best for last. Alex Semin would obviously be comfortable there and the Capitals don’t really need him that much. The Capitals could use scoring depth though and the Caps have cap space, Semin could be an option.
That is just a couple of options. You could easily put other teams like maybe an LA, Colorado, Buffalo, Montreal, Florida and maybe even others. Alex Semin has created a bad reputation but even so he could be worth the risk for plenty of teams and if he were to find his old scoring touch could come at one hell of a bargain.
