NHL free agency is a month a half away, but already rumors are starting to swirl about players like Ryan Suter and Alexander Semin. Both players' teams have been eliminated from the NHL playoffs, and both players are expected to garner quite a bit of interest on the open market, especially from the Detroit Red Wings.
While Suter and somebody like Zach Parise will likely be the Red Wings' top targets when free agency begins, there is also an expectation for them to show interest in Semin. It seems highly unlikely that Semin will return to the Washington Capitals, and should he decide to continue playing in the NHL rather than going to his native Russia to play in the KHL, Detroit is a landing spot that would make a lot of sense.
On Tuesday, Neil Greenberg, a contributor to the Washington Post and ESPN, passed along a rumor linking Semin to the Red Wings. Here's what he had to say:
If I was setting a Vegas line for "Where will #Caps Alexander Semin end up?" the favorite would be Detroit Red Wings.
— Neil Greenberg (@ngreenberg) May 15, 2012
Greenberg went on to tweet that he has heard from "three different sources" that the Red Wings are the favorite, and he also tweeted that he's hearing Semin would take a discount to sign with the Red Wings. Considering he would have a chance to be teammates with countryman Pavel Datsyuk, it's not too surprising to hear that a discount to sign with Detroit might be in play.
Red Wings fans have high hopes for the offseason given that there is a lot of top-tier talent expected to be available and given that the team needs to improve after a first-round exit in the playoffs. While landing even one of Suter and Parise may be difficult, signing Semin would at least add some talent to a team clearly in need of more playmakers.
For more on the Detroit Red Wings, check out Winging It In Motown. You can check out more hockey news from around the league at SB Nation's NHL page.
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