NHL Free Agency: Could Alex Semin be the Pens' Plan C?

By Finesse

Imagine the following scenario: The Pens dance with Ryan Suter and Zach Parise all day today but can't get a deal done with either.  The guys from TSN are tweeting that Minnesota is heavily pursuing the pair, but you can't sleep on Detroit.  Rob Rossi is tweeting vague things to make himself sound smart but that he can't be wrong about like, "Hearing there may be a surprise team in the Parise hunt."  Shane Doan re-signs in Phoenix.  Paul Martin gets traded.  Hudler and Samuelsson get $5 million dollar contracts, sending Artistry into anaphylactic shock.  Sunday night comes around and the Pens have signed...no one of consequence.  And at lunchtime on Monday, the following headline pops on your screen: "Parise and Suter spotted at Detroit airport.  Wings call presser for 4:00 today."

Hossa-Lite

Pop quiz, hot shot.  The Pens have $15million in cap space, Deryk Engelland as their 4th best defeseman, and Eric Tangradi may be on the second line.   What do you do?

Don't shoot him in the leg.

Let's add another layer to the story.  Alex Semin's agent spends all day Sunday asking teams for a mega-deal in the Zach Parise range, and after the GMs stopped laughing they moved on to their own Plan Bs.  The teams needing to hit the cap floor have reached it.  Semin has no one to go to prom with and the Pens have an empty Hummer limo and a box of wilting corsages.

Is it possible?

The chances of all that happening are close to 0%, given Shero's awareness that he better have a viable Plan B and the fact that, enigmatic as he is (<-- did Finesse just call a Russian player enigmatic?  OMG  HE'S RACIST!!!!!), Semin will have suitors this summer.  But what if it does go down like that?  What if Semin is out there and all the Pens have is a big wad of cash with no one to give it to?

Alex, how about 1 year, $7 million.  Is that something you might be interested in?

If, and only if, today and tomorrow unfold exactly like that, there are 3 simple reasons why I'd offer Semin a one-year contract: 1) as long as Dale Hunter isn't his coach, the guy can score goals; 2) with $15 million and no one to spend it on this year, a one-year deal like that would not hurt the Pens' cap going forward; and 3) sorry for bringing this up, but he's a right-handed shot and would be working with left-handed centers...

Remember when we thought that was funny?

I'm not advocating this, and I'm not saying it would be easy to stomach.  But I have a strong stomach.

Should have been 2 minutes for holding the stick

We'll have a huge post tomorrow with reaction to all of today's dealings.  Make sure to follow me and Artistry on Twitter.  Go Pens.