Quick hits for this Tuesday...
Alexander Semin cleared waivers...
...which is actually a bit surprising. Now I know many of you feel Semin is completely done. That he had his last chance and blew it in Montreal. He had a single goal...this much its true. Many of you know I am not a huge fan of Alex. I think the way he has squandered his natural ability is enough to piss off thousands of hockey players who have worked their tails off and never seen pro hockey....
So how is this surprising???
My defense of Semin, at least in terms of teams passing on him, is I never thought he was a fit in Therrien's system, and more than that...he is the opposite of a Michel Therrien player...and not the first player the GM has brought into Montreal and Therrien has not gelled with.
However, on another team, where his skill can be utilized and he can be less expected to play defense....for his low salary I am kind of surprised no one took a shot...
He also has very good analytics this season. He has been better two-ways than you'd expect.
What's next?
There were some yesterday who questioned if he would or would not report to the AHL...
Mike Richards...
Mike Richards is about to have his day in court and there is a very good chance he will be able to return to the NHL this season in time to play for a team in the playoffs....So far I have heard Anaheim, San Jose, Florida, Montreal and Pittsburgh are all keeping their eyes on this....
Would you take a shot on Mike Richards at a low salary? I would. He has always been a clutch player and one can imagine he has had time to think about how he might do some things differently...
We will discuss all this and some more rumors on today's HockeyBuzzcast at 1pm.