Karmanos unplugged: Canes owner on Semin, team, Triangle

The Carolina Hurricanes were mostly quiet Wednesday as NHL free agency began.

All but owner Peter Karmanos Jr., that is.

The Hurricanes owner was his feisty self Wednesday with the media, explaining the Alexander Semin contract buyout, getting in a few digs at the Pittsburgh Penguins, talking about his team's future and again firmly insisting the franchise would not move to another, more attractive market.

It has been a busy week for Karmanos, who learned Monday he will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He then flew to Raleigh for scheduled meetings, approved the $14 million Semin buyout and was on hand Wednesday for the start of free agency.

The Canes' signings were minimal. They brought back center Riley Nash, who signed a one-year, $1.15 million contract. They agreed with defenseman Rasmus Rissanen and forward T.J. Hensick on one-year, two-way contracts, and also signed defensive prospect Jaccob Slavin to a three-year, entry-level contract.

Semin was given a five-year, $35 million extension in March 2013 that became the costliest personnel decision in franchise history. Karmanos accepted responsibility Wednesday for the Semin contract, which was handled by former general manager Jim Rutherford.

“I ultimately take responsibility for everything,” Karmanos said.

Rutherford, now the Penguins GM, made perhaps the biggest NHL splash Wednesday, completing a trade that brought Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel to Pittsburgh. That also earned a mention from Karmanos, who quipped, “I do not have to take responsibility for Pittsburgh signing Kessel.

“Pittsburgh has no first-round picks anymore,” he added. “They traded their first-round pick from the year before, they traded their first-round pick for this year and now they've traded their first-round pick for next year. But they have Kessel, who may score as many goals as Alex Semin did.”

Semin, a former 40-goal scorer who had who six goals last season, was placed on unconditional waivers Tuesday. The Russian winger was not claimed by noon Wednesday, becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Rutherford said Tuesday that Semin, who initially signed a one-year, free-agent contract with Carolina in July 2012, would have left to play in Russia had the Canes not offered him the five-year deal. Karmanos disputed that Wednesday, saying, “I don't believe that. I never heard that.”

Semin had 22 goals in the 2013-2014 season under former coach Kirk Muller but never meshed last year with new coach Bill Peters.

“There are some guys you pay millions and millions of dollars and it wouldn't affect their performance at all,” Karmanos said. “There are some guys you pay millions and millions of dollars and it takes away all their incentive. You need to be very careful and understand the character of the person you're signing. We obviously missed that.

“We didn't buy him out to save cap space or anything like that. We bought him out because he was a distraction, he wasn't going to perform and we wanted to get on to building a team that could win.”

General manager Ron Francis said the Canes looked at various trade scenarios Wednesday and had considered a few free agents. Among them was former Canes defenseman Andrej Sekera, who was traded in March to the Los Angeles Kings and signed a six-year, $33 million contract Wednesday with the Edmonton Oilers.

Nash, 26, played 68 games for the Canes last season and had career highs in assists (17) and points (25). A restricted free agent paid $600,000 last season, he did not receive a qualifying offer from Carolina, becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Hensick, 29, has played 112 career NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues, and he appeared in two Stanley Cup playoff games for the Avs in 2008. He spent last season with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, leading the team in scoring.

Rissanen, 23, was with the Charlotte Checkers, the Canes’ AHL affiliate, most of last season. He made his NHL debut with Carolina and played six games before suffering a knee injury.

Francis said the Canes hoped to soon sign Boston College defenseman Noah Hanifin to an entry-level contract. Hanifin, the fifth pick Friday in the NHL draft, will attend the Canes’ prospects camp next week in Raleigh.

The Hurricanes made two trades on the second day of the draft, bringing in goalie Eddie Lack and defenseman James Wisniewski. Francis said there still were “holes” to fill including added depth at forward.

Karmanos, 72, said he continues to seek a financial “partner” to eventually succeed him as majority owner, saying that partner could be determined by next season. He said regardless of the would-be owner, the Hurricanes wouldn't leave “one of the fastest-growing markets in the country.”

“We'd have to be idiots to move from here,” Karmanos said.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 1:30 PM with the headline "Karmanos unplugged: Canes owner on Semin, team, Triangle."