Detroit Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk is close to signing a two-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL according to Slava Malamud. Malamud reports the head of the KHL’s board of directors Gennady Timchenko said Datsyuk will join the team.
Head of KHL board of directors (and Putin's bud) Timchenko says Datsyuk will join SKA. Team will also pursue Plotnikov and Tikhonov
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@SlavaMalamud) May 25, 2016
Datsyuk has been rumored to join the KHL since the Red Wings season ended. The 37-year-old reportedly wanted to join the KHL to return to his homeland and family. If that’s the case it’s hard to blame him. Datsyuk admitted he wanted to go home back in April and that he was done in the NHL.
“I’m thinking I go home after this season,” Datsyuk told the Detroit Free Press in April. “I may not be done with hockey, but — it is hard to say — I think I am done playing in NHL.”
The potential move would leave his former team in a tough cap situation. No matter what Datsyuk decides – whether he stays, leaves the team and/or retires – his $7.5 million cap hit will stay on the Wings’ books. Datsyuk expressed regret over signing a three-year deal and leaving Detroit in a crappy cap situation.
“I feel very bad about it,” Datsyuk told the Detroit Free Press in April. “Looking back, I wish I had done a year-by-year contract, not a three-year contract. I stayed (last year) in respect for Ilitch family. I don’t want to leave team in disaster. But if I have to do over again, I would sign a different deal. I didn’t realize it at the time.”
That’s a lot of dead weight for a team to carry. General manager Ken Holland might have to get creative and deal the cap hit in a trade. There are a handful of teams who could benefit from that type of cap hit to stay above the cap floor, even if no player actually reports to the squad.
Either way, it’s bad for the NHL and the Red Wings that one of the most skilled players in the league is bolting to the KHL, although Datsyuk’s urge to spend time with his family is respectable.
[TSN.ca]
