PITTSBURGH | Indications all along have been that Alexander Semin would not be back with the Washington Capitals. That certainly seems to be the case now, with the start of unrestricted free agency a little over a week away.
Semin’s agent, Mark Gandler, said in an email to The Washington Times that his client “most likely” will test the market July 1.
George McPhee was noncommittal about the statuses of Semin and Dennis Wideman, saying “yeah, they might” when asked about them becoming unrestricted.
The Caps on Friday night made one step toward replacing Semin’s production by acquiring center Mike Ribeiro from the Dallas Stars. He fills a different role, but with the Russian winger probably on the way out, more skill was needed.
“We wanted to add a bit of skill to our lineup,” McPhee said Friday night. “We got some big, gritty forwards and we just wanted to put another skill guy in the middle of it to see if it helps, and I think it makes our team immediately better.”
Semin, 28, had 21 goals and 33 assists this past regular season but just three goals and an assist in the playoffs.
