Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford excited to sign Russian winger Alexander Semin
Jim Rutherford, general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes of the Eastern Division of the National Hockey League (NHL), has said that he is very happy to have Alexander Semin in his side as it was not an easy job to sign the Russian right winger, who had
only played for Washington Capitals before.
According to 63-year-old former NHL player, he had to do a lot of home work and he had been working out on it for a long time to get Semin in his side. He said that he had started this job by having a long conversation with Washington Capitals former coach
Bruce Boudreau at the draft.
Boudreau, a former Toronto Maple Leafs, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Fighting Saints coach, was appointed as Washington Capitals’ coach at the start of 2007-2008 NHL season and held that post for more than four years, before getting fired because of
poor run of the team in between 2011-2012 season and was appointed Anaheim Ducks’ coach right after that.
About Boudreau and his meeting, Rutherford said,
"I remember having a relatively long conversation with [former Capitals coach] Bruce Boudreau at the draft. That was the start of us really doing our homework leading to this signing."
And after all his hard work and research, his team, Carolina Hurricanes were finally able to get the services of Alexander Semin, as he signed the one-year deal for $7 million.
Alexander Semin was drafted 13th overall in the NHL draft of the year 2002 by Washington Capitals and made his NHL debut for them in the season 2003-2004. But he was sent to Russian Super League and American Hockey League for few years before
he got back to Capitals’ side in 2006-2007 and remained a part of their team until 2011-2012 season. He scored amazing 408 points in 469 games played, by scoring 197 goals and 211 assists.
Born in Beeton, Ontario, former goaltender also added that,
"Several people in our front office tried to reach out to as many people that have crossed paths with Alex in his career. Former players, former coaches, former scouts. You get different reviews from different people, but certainly the positives much outweighed
any people that had a negative experience with him."
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