Where Do the Penguins Go From Here
By Drew Shetler
After losing out on the Zach Praise and Ryan Suter sweepstakes, both signing with the Minnesota Wild for identical 13 years $98 million contracts, the Penguins must look to the best available.
The Penguins do not have anything on their roster worth trading to get involved in talks for Rick Nash or Bobby Ryan. Most certainly those teams would ask for James Neal. Neal, who the Penguins signed for six years and has great chemistry with Evegeni Malkin, has to be off the table.
Their next target must be Alexander Semin. What? Yes, I said, the ex Washington Capitol, Alexander Semin. Semin has one of the best shots in the league and has tremendous scoring ability. The past four years Semin ranks fourth in plus/minus. The only three players ahead of him are: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Alexandre Burrows.
Semin would be a great fit in Pittsburgh. He would be coming to a team where he doesn’t have to be a star and not much responsibility will be on his shoulders. However, there are times when Semin is in a scoring drought that he appears to be lazy. But when Washington made a coaching change to Dale Hunter, Semin seemed to shine on both ends of the ice.
Just watch the Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitols series, Semin is all over the ice blocking shots and hustling back to the defensive zone to help out his defensemen.
The Penguins will have to get into another bidding war for Semin as teams will be interested in this talent now that Praise is off the market.
As for defenseman, the Penguins should focus their efforts on Matt Carle. The ex-Flyer will help tremendously on the blue line. He can move the puck with precision. Tallying 34 assist last season. Carle could play on the top pairing. He would log a lot of minutes, man the point on the power play when Kris Letang needs a break, kill penalties and block shots.