Alexander Semin is an enigma, much like fellow Russian Alex Kovalev was some 20 years ago.

He has the ability to become one of the most explosive and talented players in the world, but lacks the motivation to do so. Semin was waived on Tuesday by the Carolina Hurricanes with the purpose of buying out his contract. It's a great move by Carolina who now owe Semin $2.33 million for the next six seasons instead of $7 million for the next three.

It was a tough year for the Hurricanes last season, and Semin in particular. He scored a total of 19 points in 57 games, with six goals and a minus-10 rating. That's a far cry from the 84 points he scored with the Washington Capitals in 2009-10. What is more shocking is that his +/- dropped so significantly as he was one of the Capitals' better two-way forwards - surprisingly.

What makes Semin such an interesting player is that he does have to ability to take over a game at any given moment, but he never did that in Carolina. And at 31 years old, Semin is in the beginning of the twilight of his career, but perhaps a change of scenery would benefit the Russian.

And the Capitals are in need of a right winger to play alongside Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, and Semin would be the perfect fit. He and Ovi are very good friends, and Semin is all too familiar with the Washington area and a lot of the players from his time in DC.

With Ovechkin and Backstrom, Semin might be able to find the spark in his game that led to him becoming so dangerous for 6 years here in Washington. Even pairing him with fellow Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov has the potential to be a great secondary scoring threat.

Semin could very well bolt for the KHL and make a ton of money, and why blame him?

However, I truly believe there is some chance that Washington comes calling and offers him a decent one-year deal. The idea of playing with Ovechkin again might be too much to pass up, and you never know what can happen this time of year.

Semin has amassed 513 points in 635 games, mostly with Washington, and his numbers have been in decline since joining Carolina. It was a bad fit from the beginning. He may just find his game again in DC.

More to come...

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