NHL insider Bob McKenzie weighs in on potential Datsyuk return

In case you missed it yesterday, there were rumblings out of Russia that 40 year old former NHL superstar Pavel Datsyuk could be eyeing a return to North America for the 2019-20 season.

Datsyuk currently has seven goals and 28 points in 32 games with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL, the team for whom he fled the Detroit Red Wings for back in 2016. Datsyuk lost a teammate in Ilya Kovalchuk this past offseason when Kovalchuk elected to return to the NHL and sign a deal with the now struggling Los Angeles Kings and you have to wonder if Datsyuk might follow his teammate back West.

Well… don’t count on it just yet says NHL insider Bob McKenzie of TSN.

Check it out:

That’s not exactly a definitive “No” on Datsyuk’s return, but it also doesn’t lend itself to much optimism. Here’s hoping that he makes it to free agency and has a team woo him back with some cold hard cash. The NHL is always better with The Magic Man on the ice.