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Canadiens sign Alex Semin, one year, $1.1 M


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It's going to be interesting to see how much rope he gets with Therrien. He's not a big fan of players who don't back check and see their effort levels vary from shift to shift. That pretty much describes Semin. Will he get more of a look than guys like Briere or Parenteau or will Weise be back in a top six role before too long?

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According to some Caps fans I know, Semin has played LW in the past and was fine in the position.

If he can do that in Montreal, this might change my viewpoint:

Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Gallagher

Semin - Plekanec - Kassian

And then Bergevin figures out who the third centre is by trading Eller or DD before camp.

I don't know. Apart from being overpriced, Eller has the PERFECT mix of talents to slot in as a 4th line center on any team in the league.

(Why we're paying 3.5 million for that, I have NO idea.)

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Terrible interview. I hope it was the language barrier. I was more optimistic 10 minutes ago than I am now. That's it.

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The appropriate attitude to Semin is identical to the appropriate attitude to Kassian. 'He's got talent, he's got a history as a basket case - anything he brings is a bonus, but maybe we'll get lucky.' In short, very, very, VERY cautious optimism. Anything more than that is irrational.

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Massive step backward in terms of character. We'll just have to hope that the leadership core is strong enough to absorb two head cases.

I laughed out loud when I saw this news - after all my critiques of those spraying Semin all over this board! However, as I maintained throughout, my response is to shrug and hope for the best. He's a one-year stopgap who is unlikely to help us in the playoffs, but you never know. I just hope Kassian can step up as a legit top-6 FW, since he, not Semin, represents a possible longer-term answer.

Ha Ha :rofl: I was talking to uncle Mark the other day and.... oh yeah that was a dream. Anyway we can bury him in the minors easily at 1.1 mill. If he gives us 40 goals MB will be a real Genius. Really a no lose situation. As Uncle Mark says a pure goal scorer. Love it.

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I'm a fan of this signing because there is really no risk in the signing. Worst case scenario, if he's terrible you send him down to the minors. Since his cap hit is so low when you put him in the minors his cap hit to the Habs will only be 175K. Essentially nothing. If he has a great season then all the better. We needed someone else for our top 6, and throughout most of his career he has been that player. If he has a great season and the Habs want to resign him, they better be sure to give him no more than one year deals. He could also be a stop gap for Scherbak. This will give him a year in the minors to learn the professional game. Then after that we welcome Sherbs into the fold.

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I'm a fan of this signing because there is really no risk in the signing. Worst case scenario, if he's terrible you send him down to the minors. Since his cap hit is so low when you put him in the minors his cap hit to the Habs will only be 175K. Essentially nothing. If he has a great season then all the better. We needed someone else for our top 6, and throughout most of his career he has been that player. If he has a great season and the Habs want to resign him, they better be sure to give him no more than one year deals. He could also be a stop gap for Scherbak. This will give him a year in the minors to learn the professional game. Then after that we welcome Sherbs into the fold.

I don't know but I agree with you. Oh it's cause tha is what I have ben saying all along. Great minds think alike :thumbs_up:

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Well seems most were saying a 1 yr $1.5m deal would be worth the risk and Bergy did a bit better than that, so bit of a no brainer and worth a contract.

Did no other team have a better offer I wonder? Or did 28 other GMs simply have no interest at all?

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Well seems most were saying a 1 yr $1.5m deal would be worth the risk and Bergy did a bit better than that, so bit of a no brainer and worth a contract.

Did no other team have a better offer I wonder? Or did 28 other GMs simply have no interest at all?

Or did Semin simply prefer Montreal?

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Guest Stogey24

If Markov called him to encourage him to sign in Montreal, one gets the feeling that means he took less to get Bergevin to send a contract.

Semin said he spoke with Markov.
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I don't know about "massive" step back. Prust had character and toughness, but even IMO was a liability with bad penalties and mouthing off at the refs in the playoffs. PAP is a less skilled, french Semin. At $1.1M, this was a no brainer compared to PAP, who outside of shootouts was useless.

Massive step backward in terms of character. We'll just have to hope that the leadership core is strong enough to absorb two head cases.

I laughed out loud when I saw this news - after all my critiques of those spraying Semin all over this board! However, as I maintained throughout, my response is to shrug and hope for the best. He's a one-year stopgap who is unlikely to help us in the playoffs, but you never know. I just hope Kassian can step up as a legit top-6 FW, since he, not Semin, represents a possible longer-term answer.

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Prust was a fantastic locker room guy. So was Colby Armstrong. And Josh Gorges. And Hal Gill. And Peter Budaj. And Cristobal Huet. And...

I think the only time a "great locker room guy" left and the team went to poop in the locker was Doug Gilmour. He was the real captain and Koivu couldn't control anything when he was gone.

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I'm certainly not saying the team will "go to poop" because Prust left (!). That would be absurd. All I'm saying is we subtracted one of the blood-and-guts character veteran leaders on the team, and added not one, but two certifiable head-cases. It's quite possible - indeed, likely - that the leadership core can absorb this. But there does have to come a point at which you reach a critical mass of losers rather than winners in your locker room. Semin is a grade-A, proven loser, Kassian has maybe two more years (being generous) to prove he isn't one. So I'd say the "character" question is at least worth raising, even if it probably isn't worth ripping our hair over at this point. (Indeed, the team culture seemed undamaged by the presence of one of the all-time bums of his generation, Rene Bourque, so it can probably handle Bourque plus one, which is what we have now).

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I'm certainly not saying the team will "go to poop" because Prust left (!). That would be absurd. All I'm saying is we subtracted one of the blood-and-guts character veteran leaders on the team, and added not one, but two certifiable head-cases. It's quite possible - indeed, likely - that the leadership core can absorb this. But there does have to come a point at which you reach a critical mass of losers rather than winners in your locker room. Semin is a grade-A, proven loser, Kassian has maybe two more years (being generous) to prove he isn't one. So I'd say the "character" question is at least worth raising, even if it probably isn't worth ripping our hair over at this point. (Indeed, the team culture seemed undamaged by the presence of one of the all-time bums of his generation, Rene Bourque, so it can probably handle Bourque plus one, which is what we have now).

I question Prust as "leadership core." I liked the guy, but his meltdowns were epic. Cost us at least one playoff game, too.

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As long as don't see him slap fight anyone in a habs jersey, I see no negative to this signing. The big question is do two low risk aquisitions like Kassian and semin make the habs a better team than last year? I wouldn't bet on it, but it could happen. We all know that if this team is to contend, the window is Price and Pacioretty contract expiry. So three seasons. I guess we will all have to wait and see.

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Semin is on a 1 year contract. He does well on 1 year contracts, we are not stupid enough to off him a long term big money contract like the hurry canes did. I don't know that he is a proven loser, he has been an awfully good producer most years.

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I wonder if this helps us sign AG? A little pressure on the kid?

Why would it put pressure on him? They play different positions and are in entirely different situations. A deal needs to get done and that was the case before and after this signing. As I wrote yesterday on the site, he has one card to play, drag it out like a lot of other RFA's in similar situations have done recently. That doesn't change with adding Semin.

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well it was kind of a random thought off my pointy little head but, Semin plays left or right, so he could play left Alex center and whoever on the right. Also if Semin signs for 1.1 million, does it show the kid you gotta produce to get paid. Does he want to play with Semin? Maybe, anyway it was a 1/2 baked notion.

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One of my first thoughts when the deal was signed is that Semin would give the Habs another decent threat for the PP. He didn't exactly do that with Carolina last year though, getting just 4 assists (0 goals) in nearly 86 minutes of PP ice time, or roughly one point per 21:30 of PP TOI.

Some approximate Montreal comparisons:

Desharnais: 11 in 196 minutes, 1 point per 17:45 of PP TOI

Eller: 2 points in 36 minutes,1 point per 18:00 of PP TOI

Galchenyuk: 12 points in 178 minutes, 1 point per 15:00 of PP TOI

Gallagher: 8 points in 200 minutes, 1 point per 25:00 of PP TOI

Pacioretty: 11 points in 206 minutes, 1 point per 18:45 of PP TOI

Parenteau: 4 points in 125 minutes, 1 point per 31:15 of PP TOI

Plekanec: 16 in 180 minutes, 1 point per 11:30 of PP TOI

Those were the top seven forwards in total PP TOI with Montreal last season. Semin only beat two of those players, one them being the one whose buyout made the Semin signing possible. So perhaps this signing won't be as much of a boon for the PP as I initially hoped.

(And for anyone wondering about Semin's 2013-14 production in comparison, it was roughly 1 point per 18:30 of PP TOI which still doesn't beat many on the above list.)

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