Semin signs extension

ST. LOUIS — The Washington Capitals have several core members who will be either restricted or unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.

Scratch Alexander Semin from that list.

Semin signed a two-year contract extension on Friday night worth $9.2 million. The 23-year old left wing from Krasnoyarsk, Russia, will make $4.2 million during the 2008-09 season and $5 million for the 2009-10 campaign. The contract will count $4.6 million against the team”s salary cap each year and Semin will have one more year of restricted free agency when it expires.

“We’re happy he is making this commitment to us. We made a commitment to him, but he is making a commitment to here,” Caps coach Glen Hanlon said. “We want him to feel responsible for us to take the next step. We don”t want him to look around and say it is up to [Viktor] Kozlov or it is up to [Alex] Ovechkin. It is up to him. He’s got to play a bigger role in this.”

Semin had a breakout season a year ago, notching 38 goals — 12th best in the NHL — and 73 points. He also led the team with 17 power play goals. This season Semin missed six of the first seven games with an ankle sprain and has one assist in three games, but being paired with center Michael Nylander could produce plenty of goals.

He has shown a knack for electrifying the crowd with his dazzling array of offensive skills, but he can also mystify coaches and teammates by taking bad penalties or not making smart decisions.

“I’m not worried about him scoring goals,” Hanlon said. “I want to see him be like [Ovechkin] where it comes to protecting a lead. I want Alexander Semin on the ice, but you don’t give the most important shift of the game to someone until they prove they can do it.”

Semin would have been a restricted free agent after this season.

“I don’t know how to explain, but the decision was made with me and my agent,” Semin said through an interpreter. “My agent decided to sign this year.”

Still left to be signed are potential restricted free agents Ovechkin, Shaone Morrisonn, Mike Green and Boyd Gordon, along with unrestricted free agent Olie Kolzig.

“I am happy for [Semin],” Ovechkin said. “I think we try not to think about it. We try to think about the games. But when you are in last year of contract, sometimes you think about it.”

Notes — Captain Chris Clark did not travel here with the team after taking an Ovechkin slapshot in the ear Friday night against Vancouver. Clark does not have a concussion, but does have a lot of stitches. He could join the team in Toronto for tomorrow’s game.

“I would say not great,” said Hanlon, who talked with Clark on the phone. “When Chris Clark says something that is not 100 percent positive, that is not a good sign. But that is to be expected. [Trainer Greg Smith] said he was going to be in a lot of pain today.”

With Clark out, Hanlon decided to start last night’s game with Nicklas Backstrom at center between Ovechkin and Kozlov and with Tomas Fleischmann on the second line with Semin and Nylander. Backstrom, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2006 draft, has taken a few shifts at center, but has spent most of his rookie season at left wing beside Nylander.

“We’ve talked along the way. I’ve reassured him that there was going to come a time when he was going to play center this year,” Hanlon said. “He might play there tonight and then go back to wing and go back and forth until we make the full time switch.” …

Defenseman Tom Poti missed his second straight game with a groin injury and John Erksine replaced him in the lineup. Poti skated for a short time yesterday morning, but he obviously had some discomfort.

“It is not good enough for tonight,” Poti said afterward. “I’ll rest it for another night. I think it is just pulled. It basically feels like [crap]. We’ll just keep trying to loosen it up and heating it up. We’ve treated it twice a day for the past two days.”