Without much surprise, Steve Yzerman was named the new general manager of the Detroit Red Wings on Friday.
And Yzerman might just already have his first big project on his hands.
According to Elliotte Friedman, who spoke about the upcoming changes in Hockey Town before the Maple Leafs-Bruins contest on Sportsnet, Yzerman might start things off by trying to get legendary Wings player Pavel Datsyuk to return to Detroit.
The rights of Datsyuk, who will turn 41 in July, are owed by the Arizona Coyotes until this summer. In July 2019, the veteran star player will be an unrestricted free agent and might be interested in giving the NHL another go. Of course, a deal with Detroit would be unbelievable.
Back in the summer of 2016, Datsyuk announced that he was leaving the Detroit Red Wings, with a year left on his contract, saying it was time to go back home and play in the Russia-based Kontinental Hockey League. Since, he has been an important member of SKA St. Petersburg.
Datsyuk had 49 points, ranking second on the Red Wings, in 66 games during his last regular season in the NHL.
“His contract in the KHL is up, but he is still technically the property of the Arizona Coyotes until July 1st, so I don’t know how this all works but this one thing the Red Wings were discussing internally if they want to bring him back, explained Friedman.
“It will be interesting to see if Yzerman is interested in that at all.”
In his press conference on Friday, Yzerman noted that the priority was to make the Red Wings a Stanley Cup contender again and that building a strong future with draft picks and prospects would take time.
The addition of a veteran leadership presence like Datsyuk would only help the Wings moving forwards.
Let’s keep an eye on this.
