Pavel Datsyuk wants to play for Detroit beyond next season

Submitted by Randy Marsh on

For any hockey fans still suffering from post-knockout sadness, Pavel say "I hope so we agree and I sign new deal."

There were rumors that he was going to play the final year of his contract coming up before going back to Russia to finish his playing career there.

http://www.mlive.com/redwings/index.ssf/2013/05/pavel_datsyuk_says_he_wants_to.html

Fhshockey112002

May 31st, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^

What people need to remember is this is a salary cap era. YES WE ALL WANT HIM BACK, but remember he is 35 years old. We all see how bad the Luongo deal is on Vancouver moving forward. A contract that takes him past his 39th birthday for substantial money could be devastating to the progress the Wings have made in the youth movement. 

Edit: Before everyone freaks out... I think you either give him big money for 1-2 years like the Lidstrom deals from 09-12 OR you give him less money for a 4-5 year deal (around $5.5 mil)

DenverRob

May 31st, 2013 at 4:20 PM ^

He has been the most consistent player. This is not bad thing to have Pav until he is 39, 40. I will tell you to look at Selene who Pav is better than. You don't pay him 10 mil a year, but you pay him end of story.

Tommy Want Wingy

May 31st, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^

I would expect him to get a slight pay bump to 7.5ish mil for two years. His last deal was front loaded to lower his cap hit, which the NHL is looking to punish teams for now. Its the reason that Hossa (and Franzen for that matter) are very real possibilities to be bought out in the near future. 

lilpenny1316

May 31st, 2013 at 4:25 PM ^

http://www.capgeek.com/redwings/

Datsyuk made $6.7 mil and Zetterberg is over $6mil as well.  If the Wings are wise, they'd amnesty Samuelsson and Bertuzzi to clear up another $6mil.  Fortunately, Filppula will be gone as an UFA. 

With the younger, more affordable talent we saw on the Brunner, Andersson, Nyquist line, along with Helm hopefully returning at 100%, we can either find a trade partner with some of that talent, or sign a first line or second line scorer along with a top-6 defenseman to fix the issues had this season.

Tommy Want Wingy

May 31st, 2013 at 4:49 PM ^

I'd dump Sammy for sure, but Tuzzi can still play when healthy, and only counts 2 mil against the cap for another season. I'd be much more concerned about paying Franzen 3.9 mil a season until the end of time. Don't get me wrong, I like him as a player but that contract will bite the wings in the ass if he retires before it ends. If he calls it quits at 39 for instance, the wings would receive and 8.3 mil cap penalty.

http://www.capgeek.com/recapture-calculator/

Fhshockey112002

May 31st, 2013 at 4:55 PM ^

I think Holland approaches Filppula in a very similar way as he did Juri Hudler. Make him a reasonable offer ($3mil per for 3 years) and if a team comes in similar like Calgary did and offers $4mil for 4 seasons (Hudler's contract) you let him walk. 

The problem with simply turning away and walking is there isn't a vast amount of free agent talent this summer to replace a second line center. Most of the top free agents this summer are wingers (Clarkson, Penner, Ryder, Horton) so would need to have a replacement in mind for Filppula.

lilpenny1316

May 31st, 2013 at 6:31 PM ^

It seemed like his mind was in another place after the trading deadline.  Don't know if he was resigned to leaving or what.  I heard some snippet on the radio about Holland referring to Filppula as "better to having the devil that you know".  Don't know what it means but it's not a ringing endorsement.

I don't know if Fil is worth $3mil in the salary cap era if his productivity doesn't pick up.  But I would like to see him back as long as it's a reasonable contract.

Swazi

May 31st, 2013 at 6:24 PM ^

But you guys can't be locking up a lot of money long term in aging players.  HZ is going to be 40 by the time his 6+ mil annual cap hit expires.  Same with Franzen (3.9 mil) and Kronwall(4.75).

kdhoffma

May 31st, 2013 at 3:51 PM ^

Awesome news.  Lot's of rumors out there that he had such a great time playing in the KHL over the lockout, that he was looking at going back home.

HipsterCat

May 31st, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^

my gut says "fuck those guys" because we just lost to the hawks, but objectively i think they might do okay. I dont know what lines they would play for us and next season with bertuzzi, helm and sammuelson we would have a lot of forwards that should probably be playing and only so much space (but im not up on the pending free agents so i dont know).

Fhshockey112002

May 31st, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^

Now a lot of this is dependant on if they re-sign Filppula (and if so for how much). But David Clarkson (NJ-Devils) should be a top priority.  Dustin Penner (LA-Kings) could also provide size, grit, and PP help. Looking into defenseman restricted free agents Alex Pietrangelo (StL- Blues) and Kevin Shattenkirk (StL- Blues) along with UFA Mark Streit (NY-Islanders) should be looked at. I think Streit could be risky as he is 35 years old and wouldn't exactly provide a long term solution.

lunchboxthegoat

May 31st, 2013 at 5:13 PM ^

from another team.

You're in a no-win situation with RFAs. either A) you overpay for them (see Dustin Penner when he was signed away from Anaheim on an offer sheet) because the team generally matches if its reasonable or B) You sign them for over market value and you give up not only cap space but draft picks to sign the player. The bigger the contract the more you give up.  

Dilithium Wings

May 31st, 2013 at 5:04 PM ^

Datsyuk could very well be able to play for another 3-5 years with the wings and retire. Then head back to Russia to play for another 3-5 years. He is a gifted athlete who shows no signs of slowing down

backtoblu

May 31st, 2013 at 8:21 PM ^

Best thing I've heard today. 

I thought the line of thought was he was mad at Babcock and bailing back to Russia to play.  If we have a chance at getting him back, I'm all over it.  Love his game.

BlueDragon

May 31st, 2013 at 11:09 PM ^

Russians are ferocious competitors. I know because I spent half my life studying their chess greats from Kasparov on back. Datsyuk is a competitor.