1 Viktor Kozlov WSH C +25
2 Alexander Ovechkin WSH L +24
3 Nicklas Backstrom WSH C +11
4 Jeff Schultz WSH D 67 +7
5 Brian Pothier WSH D +5
6 Tom Poti WSH D +5
7 Eric Fehr WSH R +4
8 Quintin Laing WSH +4
9 Boyd Gordon WSH C +3
10 Milan Jurcina WSH D +3
11 Joe Motzko WSH R +1
12 Shaone Morrisonn WSH D +1
13 David Steckel WSH C 0
14 Christopher Bourque WSH L 0
15 Mike Green WSH D 0
16 Chris Clark WSH R 0
17 John Erskine WSH D -1
18 Sami Lepisto WSH D 7 -1
19 Matt Bradley WSH R -1
20 Matt Cooke WSH L -3
21 Steve Eminger WSH D -4
22 Brooks Laich WSH C -5
23 Tomas Fleischmann WSH L -8
24 Donald Brashear WSH L -8
25 Sergei Fedorov WSH C -9
26 Michael Nylander WSH C -19
27 Alexander Semin WSH L -20
We can see from this list that the +/- rating shows a player's ability to play "two ways", offensively and defensively. The higher the plus, the better the player is at playing both ends of the ice.
So, while Kozlov and Ovechkin are excellent two-way players, Semin is pitiful in the defensive zone. Does that mean the Caps should waive or trade Semin? No, and hell no. I think this stat is over-rated by the media. I haven't heard a coach or a GM ever say anything about using this stat to determine whether or not to sign, draft, waive or trade a hockey player.