Good call by this blogger on Wednesday:

Quote:First, I am not a huge Semin fan. Second, I don't discount for a second that this move could be a complete bust. And in no way would I do a long-term deal.

But I say the Canes offer 1 year at full value ($6-7M) or 2 years at slight discount (about $11M).

I think the NHL hockey salary market is completely miscalculating the risk thing this summer. And because of it, people are way overbidding and underestimating risk on certain kinds of deals and way overcompensating for risk in deals like Semin. The old finance classes tell me that when the market misprices an asset is when you make the most profit. I don't see how anyone can really believe that years 7-12 in a 12-year contract for a guy who will be 33-34 then is so risk-free. And how is trading 2-3 good assets and then stilling paying $5M for someone like Bobby Ryan even if you can get him in the bidding war, risk free?

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Matt-Kara...g/56/45800

I hate Semin personally, since he always seems to find his focus against the Canes, but perhaps I'll learn to like him if he can score 30 goals for us.

So, this offseason, the Canes have added Jordan Staal and Alexander Semin.

This is definitely the most exciting off-season I've experienced in Carolina. We better get back to the playoffs...