Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk confirms he is leaving the NHL after season
Pavel Datsyuk confirmed that he will leave the NHL after this season to return home to Russia.
By
Chris Peters
•
4 min read
When Pavel Datsyuk hits the ice with the Detroit Red Wings this postseason, it appears it will be the last we see of him in the NHL. After a week of reports circulating, Datsyuk confirmed to Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press that he will return to Russia after this season, leaving one year remaining on his contract.
“I’m thinking I go home after this season,” Datsyuk told Albom. “I may not be done with hockey, but — it is hard to say — I think I am done playing in NHL.”
Datsyuk cited his desire to be closer to his daughter from a previous marriage. While also having a chance to play in front of fans in his home country is a motivator, the family element to this move is by far the biggest reason based on what Datsyuk told Albom. He's actually been wanting to go home since 2012.
The 37-year-old forward played coy after reports first surfaced initially, never issuing a public denial or confirmation until Sunday. His desire was not to distract the team as they made their push for a 25th consecutive playoff berth. They did that Saturday thanks to a Boston Bruins loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Since Datsyuk’s contract was signed as an over-35 contract, his full $7.5 million cap hit will still count against the Red Wings’ salary cap next season whether he is there or not. That is a massive chunk for a player that won’t be playing. GM Ken Holland could try to move some or all of the cap hit to a team that is looking to reach the salary cap floor, similar to how the Philadelphia Flyers managed to move Chris Pronger’s contract despite his not being able to play anymore. Seeing as Datsyuk won’t actually be earning the $7.5 million, it might be a deal Detroit can get done.
“I feel very bad about it,” said Datsyuk told the Free Press of the situation it puts the Red Wings in. “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 going to be a challenge from a hockey operations standpoint. From a fan standpoint, it’s going to be hard to get used to an NHL without Datsyuk.
Affectionately known as the “Magic Man,” Datsyuk is a magician with the puck and thinks the game at a level so far above most of his peers. Over the last 14 years, he has been dazzling the league with his immense skill level combined with a commitment to defense. It’s hard to do all the little things so well and still be a showman, but that’s what made Datsyuk great.
He spent the entirety of his career in Detroit after being drafted in the sixth round, 171st overall in the 1998 NHL Draft. He will walk away from the NHL having played 953 regular-season games, over which he posted 918 points off of 314 goals and 604 assists.
Datsyuk is a three-time Frank Selke Award winner as the league’s best defensive player and won the Lady Byng four times as the game’s most gentlemanly player. Datsyuk appeared in three all-star games and was a second-team all-star once.
He was part of two Stanley Cup championships for the Wings, putting together his most brilliant postseason on the road to the Cup in 2008. Datsyuk had 10 goals and 13 assists over 22 games that year as Detroit collected its 11th title. In 152 career playoff games, Datsyuk had 113 points.
In five of the last six seasons, Datsyuk missed significant chunks of the year due to injury. He had to sit out the beginning of the year while recovering from an ankle surgery and revealed to Albom, he also had to contend with a post-surgery infection that forced him into another surgery that didn’t become public until Sunday.
He battled back and managed to put up 49 points in 66 games. This was probably the first year where the 37-year-old didn’t quite look himself, though. His 0.74 points per game marked his lowest scoring rate since his rookie season.
There’s no question that he is still an effective player in the league becaus 0.74 points per game is still a pretty high level of production for most NHL players. He'll also get one more postseason to remind fans of what he can do.
This is a difficult situation for all parties, but players that end up coming over from Europe often leave so much behind. In this case, Datsyuk is worried about his 13-year-old daughter not having the guidance of her father.
Yes, Datsyuk will make a lot of money playing in the KHL, but he was already making and has made a lot of money here. This just doesn’t seem to be a money-motivated decision. And if the motives are what Datsyuk says they are, they’re as noble as can be.
It still saddles the Red Wings with a tough situation and it ends an NHL career a year earlier than hockey fans had anticipated. It always seemed like the end was near, but now that it’s this close, knowing that we only get a few more weeks or, if the Red Wings get hot, a month or two more of seeing No. 13 on the ice, it’s sad.
There has never been a player like Pavel Datsyuk before and there probably never will be.
