Boxing Day Deal for Semin

The Capitals came out of left field on Saturday night, announcing that they have signed Russian forward, Alexander Semin, to a new 1-year contract extension, worth $6 million. Semin was scheduled to become a restricted free agent again this summer and a new deal seems like it was a high priority for the club, as much as the pay day likely was important for the player.

This season, Semin has been a lot more reliable as a player in the line-up, playing in 29 games this season for the Capitals, scoring 14 goals and adding 18 assists. That puts him above the point-per-game average that he has been known for in his young career. His talent is off the charts in some regards, but his work ethic and health have been strikes against him as well.

Another extension won't have any effect on the Capitals salary cap hit for this season, but his new deal will increase his cap hit from $4.6 million to $6 million next year, but the Capitals are in a position where they can use a bit of flexibility. They have a number of free agents hitting the market in July, so if this season doesn't produce big things, they can do a pretty good swap of players, trying to find the right chemistry. Currently, I have the Capitals with 10 players signed on with a cap hit of $35.7 million. Alex Ovechkin, Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Mike Knuble, Chris Clark, Matt Bradley, Tom Poti, John Erskine and Karl Alzner are the other nine players.

The Caps are poised for some good things, now leading the league in the standings with 54 points, which makes them also the number one seed in the East and definitely one of the favourites for the Cup Finals from the East. This signing only solidifies a core of players that can be built around in the coming summer, in order to repeat or contend again. This is also quite the fantasy team for at least another season... granted, they are a good fantasy team every year that Ovechkin is healthy.