Even more surprising than the Montreal Canadiens waiving the veteran forward on Monday is that Alexander Semin has now cleared waivers and has been sent to the St. John’s IceCaps of the American League.
29 teams have passed on grabbing Semin and his very reasonable $1.1 million contract for a small claim fee.
While teams often wear kid gloves, in public at least, when discussing a veteran being sent to the AHL, the Canadiens have not, continuing a tradition of teams being outspoken about their issues with Semin.
Coach Michel Therrien said of Semin on Tuesday, “He has a lot of things to improve in order to play for our team,” according to LNH.com’s Arpon Basu.
All this despite Semin posting some solid possession numbers and his low point totals not being the lowest among team forwards over the last month of play.
Correct answer is Dale Weise, 2 assists in 16 games.
— Andrew Berkshire (@AndrewBerkshire) December 8, 2015
Semin has one goal and three assists through 15 games for the Habs this season.
Les Canadiens ont cédé l'attaquant Alexander Semin à St. John's (AHL) aujourd'hui Canadiens assigned Alexander Semin to the IceCaps today.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 8, 2015
No KHL teams have declared interest in Semin so far. He had a very hard time getting an offer during the lockout, too.
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@SlavaMalamud) December 8, 2015
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