Alexander Semin Highlights (via evgenimalkin)

Alexander Semin [HD] (via MooseHockeyLeagueTV) (This video is the best quality of the two)

There are a lot of people who believe some of the labels and bad hype there is out there about Alex Semin, even call him lazy at times.

I personally believe he would be a great long term replacement for the type of game Hejduk brought. (Or brings we'll see) Giving Varlamov another Russian teammate to make every day life a little easier could only be a positive as well.

This is probably the most unexpected and interesting part of the article. :

Maybe the most impressive thing I can point out about Semin is his overall 2-way performance relative to the rest of the league. Of 125 players with 2500 5v5 zone start adjusted minutes of ice time over the past 3 season, Semin ranks 5th in GF20 (trailing only D. Sedin, H. Sedin, Toews, and Stamkos) and he ranks 13th in GA20. It truly is a rare combination (for example, the Sedin’s rank 28 and 38 in GA20, Toews 60th and Stamkos 105th).

The article is a look at Alex Semin by one of you "Advanced Stats" gurus using charts and all that cool stuff. I understand some of it and some I don't but one thing is pretty clear if you take this article to heart. The labels attached to the player and main stream media negative hype are quite over blown and based more on the negative media haze that surrounds the Washington Capitals and their struggles.

While Parise would still be the best option as a offensive threat we could pick up without losing assets. Alex Semin could actually be a lot more of a close second because he should be (If only slightly) cheaper than Parise. While being close in age and actually still having the potential to match or even beat his offensive output if given the right opportunities and a resurgence.

I am not really sure who Alex Semin would be better off playing with in Paul Stastny or Matt Duchene. One is a high flying speedster (Duchene) who sees the ice well and could probably make more use of Alex Semin's play-making and passing ability (It's an underrated part of his game. He is not just a goal scorer and is able to elevate his line-mates more than people give him credit for.) Or Stastny who could probably better put Alex's best attribute (His shot) to use while also bringing enough of a two-way game that defense wouldn't need to be a main focus for Alex, but more of just a responsible two-way game would be needed. Which he is fully capable of..

I do think Matt Duchene & Alex Semin could be more of a offensive threat because defenders wouldn't be able to focus mainly on one offensive player as each of them have very dangerous wrist shots. But.. Not until Duchene rounds out the defensive side of his game. However Jones & Stastny would probably have a lot more space themselves as a result of having him on their line. (McGinn & Duchene could actually be very dangerous IMO. Speed, size and both have wicked shots.)

So check out the Article, I am curious to know if this changes anyone's mind on him as a player.