Now, Semin has this reputation of being an offensive player. He certainly can fly. Semin's shot is fantastic and he's got hands to match. He's not small either at 6'2" and 209 pounds. He may not use that size to bang, but I don't think you want him to do that anyway. In terms of tools, Semin has almost everything you would want in a scoring winger.
However, the production hasn't always followed with the skillset. The following numbers are from NHL.com:
Season GP G A Pts SOG S% PPG PPA PIM
2007-08 63 26 16 42 185 14.1 10 10 54
2008-09 62 34 45 79 223 15.2 8 22 77
2009-10 73 40 44 84 278 14.4 8 19 66
2010-11 65 28 26 54 196 14.3 6 12 71
2011-12 77 21 33 54 183 11.5 2 9 56
When people point to the fact that Semin can be as productive as Parise once was, they're likely recalling 2008-09 and 2009-10. Semin was racking up the points, he made things happen on what was an excellent power play, and he was just bombing shots on net. So he missed quite a few games, he still justified his position. However, the last two seasons tell a more cautionary tale. His point production dropped, both overall and on the power play. The power play numbers falling in 2010-11 may be a result of the Washington power play not always killing it; but an overall drop of 30 points raises an eyebrow. He played more games last season and still managed at the same total. As a partial quick defense, his total of 54 points was the second most on the team in 2011-12.
Obviously the whole article is much longer and more detailed, but I'm curious what people on this board think of Semin and if we want him here? Would his play style fit with DeBoer's system? With the longterm, ridiculous contracts being thrown out recently is there any scenario that wouldn't wind up with us having an albatross of a contract with him later on?
