The Alexander Semin sweepstakes are finally over. The Montreal Canadiens announced today they’ve signed the Russian winger to a one-year deal, which RDS’ Renaud Lavoie is reporting is worth just $1.1 million.
That’s a fantastic deal for Montreal.
Semin was an obvious buy-low candidate considering he’s making $2.3 million next season via his buyout with the Hurricanes. He was willing to take on less money since he’s already got some coming in. The contract is a great chance for him to rebuild his value, while Montreal gets a solid talent dirt cheap.
I listed him as one of my five bounce-back candidates, saying his rough 2014 wasn’t a sign of heavy decline. He was just unlucky.
He represents a great buy-low candidate. The 31-year-old’s 2014-15 struggles seemed like an anomaly opposed of a sign of what’s to come. His shooting percentage was a career low 6.5%, which is way off his 12.8% career mark – you have to expect that will turn around. He also drove possession, posting a 55.8 Corsi%, which ranked fourth among forwards with at least 40 games played.
The Canadiens had a clear need in their top-six. Semin fits that need perfectly.
He’s one year removed from a season where he was near a 30 goal pace, which even if he doesn’t come close to replicating, it’s such a low contract that any production over 10 goals will make the contract worth it. Seriously.
There’s not much downside to this deal. Worst case scenario, Semin falls off the face of the map and the team waives him at little to no cost. Best case scenario he returns to his 30-goal form, and helps the Canadiens tremendously.
All-in-all it’s been a fantastic offseason for Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin. After plucking Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers for a seriously discounted price, he locked him up this summer to a reasonable six-year $33 million deal.
Petry wasn’t the only player acquired at the trade deadline who stuck around in Montreal. Bergevin worked quickly to re-sign Brian Flynn to two-year $1.9 million deal, and Torrey Mitchell to a three-year $3.6 million deal. While those players aren’t going to be major contributors for the team, they’re solid depth pieces who re-signed at a reasonable rate, so note the theme, there’s not much downside to the deal.
Even on draft day Bergevin made a low-risk, cost-effective move with potential upside by trading fan-favourite Brandon Prust to the Vancouver Canucks for Zack Kassian and a fifth-round draft choice. Not only did the Canadiens trade a non-asset for a player seven years younger with some unlocked potential (even if he never reaches it), they saved money and acquired an additional asset.
I’m not saying I loved every single move the Canadiens made. Buying out P.A. Parenteau seemed a bit odd given his lack of a real opportunity and the eating of unnecessary money. He clashed with head coach Michel Therrien and never found his footing. But that’s small potatoes considering how much good work Bergevin has accomplished.
The Canadiens might have been a tad lucky, but they had an outstanding year last season. The moves Bergevin made not only improve the club, but don’t sacrifice the long-term cap of the club. That’s impressive as hell.
