Pavel Datsyuk Inks 2-Year Deal in KHL

On Friday, it became official as former Detroit Red Wing star Pavel Datsyuk signed a two-year deal with the Kontinental Hockey League’s SKA St. Petersburg.

It was only a matter of time before Datsyuk signed in the KHL after the 37-year-old announced that he’d be leaving the Red Wings to join his family back home in Russia.

Datsyuk spent all 14 seasons of his NHL career with Detroit amassing 918 points (314g-604a) in 953 career regular season games. Add that to his 113 career playoff points (42g-71a) that he collected in 157 contests and it’s clear how special of a player he was to the Red Wings organization.

Knowing that he was headed to the KHL, the Red Wings and Ken Holland moved Datsyuk’s contract at the draft this season handing the Arizona Coyotes his one remaining year and his $5.75 million cap hit.

He was part of two Stanley Cup winning teams (2002 and 2008) and was named to four All-Star Games over his career (2004, 2008, 2009 and 2012). He won three Frank J. Selke Trophies from 2008 to 2010 as the league’s best defensive forward as well as four straight Lady Byng Trophies as the league’s most gentlemanly player (from 2006 to 2009).

He finishes his NHL career tied for 78th on the all-time assists list with Michel Goulet and a 0.96 point-per-game average.

In 31 career KHL games (with Dynamo Moscow), Datsyuk recorded 36 points (11g-25a).

Datsyuk will be eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2019 and will certainly get consideration on his first year of eligibility.