SportsNet’s HockeyCentral Trade Tracker panel recently discussed the possibility of Washington Capitals dealing forward Alex Semin before the February 27 trade deadline.
While nothing is definite, trading Semin may be something that Capitals general manager George McPhee may explore to shake up the struggling club.
The pending unrestricted free agent may be hard to move, though. Partly because of his $6.7 million salary cap hit and partly due to his poor play this season. While he is very talented, Semin has the tendency to be too inconsistent.
Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk Photo courtesy Flickr user jpowers65.
However, SportsNet’s John Shannon believes under the right environment Semin could become a better performer. According to Shannon, playing along side countryman Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit could help Semin achieve success. Datsyuk, who has the ability to make linemates better, would be the perfect center to set up Semin due to his smarts and superb passing skills.
The Red Wings have some wiggle room under the cap, and could find a way to fit Semin if they wanted to trade for him.
It’s possible that because of his underachieving play, he would not cost much to acquire.
