For several months now, there were rumblings that Russian centre Pavel Datsyuk could be making a return to the NHL.
But those rumours were put to rest early on Wednesday morning when it was announced that the soon-to-be 41-year-old signed with his hometown club Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in the KHL after spending three seasons with St. Petersburg SKA in the KHL, as confirmed by agent Dan Milstein.
At the start of the playoffs, Bob McKenzie reported that Datsyuk's decision to sign in the KHL was likely. Technically, Datysuk's final year of his contract just concluded with the Arizona Coyotes, meaning he would've been an unrestricted free agent and had the option to sign back in the NHL with the Detroit Red Wings or another club.
"Dear Friends, The St. Petersburg stage of my career has come to an end. These were the memorable years," Datsyuk wrote on his Facebook page, as translated by the website. "I want to say thank you to the SKA club. In St. Petersburg there are wonderful conditions for games and training, attentive staff - all this helps to concentrate exclusively on hockey. Such a system is not a single year, and this is a huge merit of the club's leadership."
Fans around the NHL were hoping to see the Magic Man back in the league.
Datsyuk notched 42 points (12 goals, 30 assists) in 54 games, the most he's registered since he left North America.
