It always felt like it was going to end this way, but now it’s official -- Alex Semin is done as a Montreal Canadien.
On Wednesday, the club placed Semin on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract.
The move comes not long after Montreal exposed Semin to standard waivers -- which he cleared -- then assigned him to its AHL affiliate in St. John’s.
Per multiple reports (see here and here), Semin had no plans to report to the IceCaps, hence the move to terminate his deal. Montreal would then be off the hook entirely for Semin’s $1M cap hit.
At this point, all signs suggest Semin could be on his way back to the KHL. The 31-year-old Russian has a long history with the league -- after making his NHL debut in 2003-04, Semin spent two years playing for Tolyatti and Mytishchi Khimik before returning to North America.
During the lockout, Semin appeared in 20 games for KHL club Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo.