Canadiens offer maligned winger Alexander Semin a shot at rebirth | National Hockey League

The Montreal Canadiens didn’t seem to be doing enough to address their stagnant offense in the off-season – so signing Alexander Semin to a one year deal is surprisingly brilliant.

It’s an absolute steal if Semin can regain his form as an elite goal-scorer. Semin lacks it in buckets, his critics charge.

Alexander Semin hopes to re-ignite his career.

Since making his professional debut with the Washington Capitals in 2003-04, Semin has played 635 regular-season National Hockey League games, contributing 513 points (238 goals, 275 assists). In fact, his name completely slipped my mind (and that of countless others, I’m certain), especially after a disastrous 2014-2015 season in which he managed only 6 goals and 19 points in 57 games and was subsequently bought out of his (ridiculous) 5-year, $35 million contract.

That’s not much of a gamble for Bergevin and the Canadiens.

“Alex is a pure goal scorer with a good shot”, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said in a statement. His signing represents a great opportunity for the organization and for Alex’s career. Semin admitted in a conference call: “Last year was a bad season for me”. If it doesn’t work out, life goes on, but if Semin gets his game back on track, he could be a valuable addition. It’s fair enough, after a train wreck season, for the Hurricanes to decide that Semin wasn’t going to be a part of their future – although it was an expensive decision to buy him out of a contract that had three years and $21-million remaining – but that created an opportunity for the Habs to get good value on a player with a high ceiling.

Holtby requested $8 million in arbitration, but the Capitals had offered him $5.1 million, as indicated by Tim Wharnsby of CBC Sports.

Semin may not have been Bergevin’s first option, but he proved to be the cheapest one. It makes a ton of sense for the Canadiens to bring him in on a one-year-deal, given they were looking for a right wing but likely didn’t want to lock him in for the long term. He cited the city as a reason for signing with the Habs.