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Alex Semin

The Semin buy-out bothers me. They buy him out for 2/3s of his salary, meaning they save roughly $2.3 million per year on the buyout (according to Matt Karash).

Now, the Canes won't be spending to the cap, so I guess real money is all that matters here, but I still think it's a curious - possibly terrible decision - because, for $2.3 million dollars, you can't get a player to replace Alex Semin.

Semin didn't have a great year, but he still put strong possession numbers - 55.89 CF%, which is excellent - and all four of the players he played with the most had better possession stats when on the ice with Semin than without him.

Skinner, Hainsy, Faulk and Riley were those players and if he played more with Staal and Staal, he'd probably have better offensive numbers.

He also had a PDO that was low, a horrible shooting percentage and missed over 20 games. All in all, there is every reason to think he'll bounce back next season. Even a repeat of this season would be decent value on $2.3 million dollars.

Anyways, it's a bad move and I think the Coyotes should resign him. In fact, every team in the NHL should be at least considering it because Alex Semin on a cheap deal to reestablish himself is a great proposition. It worked with Kovalev.

Coyotes Do Not Qualify John Moore

This is a weird move from a rebuilding team. Moore is big, he's only 24, he can skate, shots get taken when he's on the ice and he can move the puck. Sure, the Coyotes have a ton of these type of guys, but why not keep some insurance?

With OEL, Stone, Murphy, Gormley and Dahlbeck all capable of moving the puck and Grossman recently added to the roster, I suppose the Coyotes felt that Moore was somewhat redundant, and I certainly get that. However, if Murphy and/or Gormley continue to struggle, a guy like Moore is a nice replacement/motivator to have around.

Who knows? Maybe Moore wouldn't sign a two-way contract and the cash-conscience Coyotes couldn't see paying a guy NHL money to sit in the press-box or languish in the AHL.

Dougie Hamilton

His new contract - six years @ a $5.75 cap-hit makes the Bruins look ridiculous.

Seidenberg and McQuaid combined to score less 5v5 points than Hamilton, and they combine to make one million dollars more. They were both also negative possession players last season.

The new Hamilton contract doesn't help the Leafs move Phanauf either.

Phaneuf makes $1.25 more per year for less term. With Phaneuf's contract you are not getting his best NHL years and with Hamilton's, you are.

What a move by the Flames.

Martin Jones

Everyone keeps saying the Sharks overpaid, but they didn't. If Robin Lehner is worth a first, so is Jones. Let's not forget that Jones essentially played identically last year to Jonathan Quick, one of the NHL's better goalies.

People keep saying he's "unproven."

The problem I have with that is that goalies are super unpredictable. Outside of a few super-stars, year to year, they vary greatly, and having "proven" you can win doesn't mean you'll keep winning.

There is also no evidence that suggests goalies somehow play better when they're starters vs when they're back-ups. Martin Jones has proven he's a quality NHL back-up capable of matching the play of a better than average starter.

Therefore he's good enough to make a starter. Since he's 24 he probably hasn't had his best year yet and the risk vs reward analysis here is pretty good.

A worst case scenario is that Jones bombs and the Sharks pay a lottery pick. That's highly unlikely. It's still unlikely, but the odds that he is a star and this trade is a steal are better than him bombing and it costing a lottery pick.

The most likely scenario - that he's alright, the Sharks finish just out or just inside the Playoffs and continue to build their team confident they have a decent goalie, is easily worth a mid-first.

So, good trade.

But how in the hell did they manage to get more for Lucic than Hamilton?

Marc Arcobello

Everyone is acting like the Coyotes made a mistake here. And nothing against Arcobello, but they didn't. He's a decent player and good for a team who needs depth for a Playoff run or even just to fill out the roster. However, the Coyotes need to be building for the future and all Arcobello does on Arizona is prevent them from playing and developing a younger player in his place.


Kyle Capobianco

The Coyotes drafted him in the third round.

The best part - and this is actually true - is that he is my aunt's husband's nephew's cousin.

Which means I am slightly more related to him than I am to President Obama, Chuck Norris or Alanis Morisette.


Thanks for reading.

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