Canadiens Sign Alexander Semin

The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that they have signed free agent winger Alexander Semin.

The deal is worth a reported $1.1 million, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.

Semin became a free agent this summer when the Carolina Hurricanes bought out the remaining three years of his five-year $7 million AAV contract.

The Canadiens agree to terms on a one-year contract (2015-16) with free agent forward Alexander Semin.

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 24, 2015

Semin attracted a lot of attention from writers over the summer for his high upside and the cheap cap hit that he’d come with following his buyout. Part of the concern wasn’t just his declining numbers, but reports of the team being frustrated with Semin’s effort. That came up again after the buyout when GM Ron Francis talked about Semin’s lack of “compete level”.

The one-time 40-goal scorer, three-time 30-goal scorer, and seven-time 20-goal scorer put in just six goals last season to go along with 13 assists through 57 games for the Hurricanes last season. His 1.1 P/60 at even strength was the worst scoring rate of his career, which coincided with the least amount of power play time he’s had in his career, making it tough for him to buoy his raw numbers.

Despite some bad numbers and seasons of decline, at $1.1 million, Semin is a gamble worth taking. He’ll also pull in an additional $2.3 million from his buyout next season.

The Canadiens have been quietly looking for a right winger all off-season. Patrick Sharp was one candidate, but Semin obviously cheaper.

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) July 24, 2015