Datsyuk Signs 7-year, $46.9M Contract Extension

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Absolute insanity. Datsyuk and co. owned Holland in this one, this is even worse than my worst case scenario. Thats not supposed to happen! I guess this shouldve been expected though. We seen it last offseason too when he continually upped and upped his offers to Shanahan. First it was supposed to be a "reasonable price for both sides", then in the end ballooned all the way up 4.5 for 2 years before Shanny finally ended it and chose NY. When push comes to shove, Holland is Richard Simmons and these guys are Chuck Liddell. He probably originally offered somewhere in the 5 - 5.5 neighborhood and we've heard Pavel wanted 7. Thats a pretty one sided negotiation!

I have serious issues with giving this kind of dough to someone with ZERO leadership abilities, thats the biggest issue here. And no, this isnt just an anti-euro remark...i wouldnt have a problem if this were Zetterberg. Theres a big difference between the two.

[Kp-Wings 3]

Oy vey. Talk about a huge contract.

Obviously, like everyone, I have mixed feelings here. Datsyuk is a tremendous talent, and the Wings have basically been riding his offense for the past month or so. But at that same time, he has consistantly been a no-show in the playoffs. I don't know what will become of this. I sure hope this doesn't into a Yashin type scenario where if he disappoints then his contract makes him virtually untradeable. We'll see what happens.

[Chase 0]

Oy vey. Talk about a huge contract.

Obviously, like everyone, I have mixed feelings here. Datsyuk is a tremendous talent, and the Wings have basically been riding his offense for the past month or so. But at that same time, he has consistantly been a no-show in the playoffs. I don't know what will become of this. I sure hope this doesn't into a Yashin type scenario where if he disappoints then his contract makes him virtually untradeable. We'll see what happens.

I dont know why everyone is so worried about Datsyuk not showing up in the playoffs. Last season he was injured, the years before that we was younger and unexperienced.

I think we will see a different Pavel this year in the playoffs. I loved the way he played in the third period against Chi-town. He just seemed like a different Datsyuk, but different in a way better way.

[Yzerfan1999 81]

Reality check. Datsyuk was going to get much more than $5 mil. on the UFA market. Any deal not offering close to $6 mil. was a non-starter. So Holland compromized. He agreed to overpay for the first few years of the contract, and in exchange got Datsyuk for what will be below market price for the remainder of the 7 years.

The cap went up by by 10% per year so far (which means that the average salary rose at that rate too). A $6 mil. contract today will (at 10% rate of increase) become something like $ 10.63 mil. in 7 years.

In fact, if Datsyuk agreed to 7 consecutive one-year contracts, starting at only $4.943 mil. with a 10% increase every year, he would have earned $46.9 mil. over those 7 years.

Which is exactly the same as he will earn under this contract.

EDIT-math.

Oh, i dont doubt he would have made 7-8 million in free agency this summer. I am pissed about the length of the contract. My point is he will STILL be making too much in 7 years. I dont understand WHY holland would give a guy a seven year contract, who has 3 goals in 43 playoff games. the guy is absolutely invisible in the playoffs. The money could be spent on MUCH better free agents this summer, and down the road.

PREDICTION: by the 2010-12 season Datsyuk will be getting point totally similar to Robert Lang.

sweet.

[LeftWinger 5,152]

...ok, sorry if this has been asked already, I don't have the time to scan through 22 pages...

...what effect, if any, does this signing have on the chances of re-signing Bertuzzi? He would be nice to have around to give SOME protection to Dats...

[Elshupacabra 0]

...ok, sorry if this has been asked already, I don't have the time to scan through 22 pages...

...what effect, if any, does this signing have on the chances of re-signing Bertuzzi? He would be nice to have around to give SOME protection to Dats...

I brought this up in the Now that dats has signed. topic (post #8)

edit=clarification

Edited April 6, 2007 by Elshupacabra

[Drake_Marcus 890]

Dats is BACK for good? And on my Birthday?!?

[Aeothe Kaear 0]

please explain to me why he will be fat with his money and all his desire to play well will disappear, that sounds retarded

That's not what I said, now is it? But you're kidding yourself if you think players don't crank it up an extra notch when they're playing for a contract, and for a guy in his prime heading into UFA with questions surrounding his playoff performance, his play would have meant the difference between millions of dollars.

The dispute over whether Datsyuk deserves this kind of money and cap hit largely concerns his playoff performance, no? Instead of letting him prove he's worth it, they just bent over and gave him what he wanted BEFORE the playoffs. What if he wilts under the physical play and puck pressure just like the previous seasons, and bombs again this year? Next year?

[Guest LivingtheDream]

Dats is BACK for good? And on my Birthday?!?

Congratulations for your birthday and for the first one to say something new and different in 22 screens of worn out comments! This is great. This guy is one of the best players alive and will come though.

But I forget, so many here know more than Steve Yzerman about players and hockey.

[Flip-check 6]

Dats is BACK for good? And on my Birthday?!?

Happy b-day Marcus! Your birthday will now be remembered in fame, or infamy for years to go.

[Andy Pred 48 337]

PREDICTION: by the 2010-12 season Datsyuk will be getting point totally similar to Robert Lang.

sweet.

Why the knock on Lang? He's playing on the 2nd line and he gets 50+ points a year and is a + rating. Many teams would love to have a 2nd line C with those stats. Players come and go and in 5 years time our roster will have changed alot. The org see Dats Hank and Kronvall as the future to build round. If we are coughing at Dats contract why not question what Nic Jnr got, 5 years at 3m a year. The guy has still to prove himself, if he's seen as Lids long term replacement the 3 goal return from his 115 games so far dosen't warrant the contract he got. Lebda got a 4yr deal at 650k a year and he's the guy who's been more of an asset so far.

Well I would hope by the year 2012, Dats won't be the #1line centre and we will have another top talent doing that for us, while he runs the show on the 2nd! Just think, who was Datsyuk 5 years ago, a rookie just finding his feet in the big league. There will be another player come along and be the go to guy he's probably playing in the minors right now!

At the end of the day, we the fans don't agree the contract's the monies are mind blowing to the ordinary Joe but its the state of play and if we had let him walk and not found a replacement good enough would we be calling Kenny?

You can't please everyone all the time and it's the time thing that is going to prove if this deal was good or bad. If we have another cup or 2 by the end of Dats contract then I will say it's worth it.

[Guest LivingtheDream]

So Hull was right after all!

[Kp-Wings 3]

So Hull was right after all!

He was being feed info from Eklund.

[Salviaman 104]

yay!

[gowingsgo 3]

Holland is OFF HIS ******* ROCKER

[silkyjohnson13 0]

wa, wa, wa...

Lol at all these people crying. They'll be the same people who suddenly "never said Datsyuk couldn't produce" when he has his breakout postseason.

Apparently Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman and company have views that differ from yours - and i'll gladly be on their side.

[J-Swift 0]

Nothing looks like the right move to half the people on this board. Holland gets criticised for everything he does. If Dats wasn't signed and left as a free agent the same people that dislike the deal would be bitching and moaning at Holland for not getting him. As a whole we're getting more and more like Yankee fans.....lose a few games and the goddamn world is ending. Make a signing, and it's just a bad move......People thought the Bert and Calder moves were pointless and they've worked out fine.....people complained when we couldn't get Loungo....it's not a video game, there's other varaibles in the process. Holland has a tough job, and weather some will admit it, he does a hell of a job and we're lucky to have him.

Could you drop that garbage? Where were you when we re-signed Zetterberg for four years? Now that was a good long-term deal. And just who exactly was against the trade for Todd Bertuzzi?

It's another gamble, but we already knew he was a gambler even before this morning.

I think it's rather hard to compare the gamble of signing a guy to a huge 7-year contract to the gamble of acquiring Todd Bertuzzi or Dominik Hasek. If Todd Bertuzzi didn't work out, we only gave up a few picks and a prospect, and could let him go at the end of the season. If Dominik Hasek didn't work out, we're only paying him 750K, and we still had Chris Osgood as an insurance policy.

But this is totally different. Datsyuk's contract will make him absolutely immovable if his play declines for any number of reasons in the next seven years. Sure this deal might look better towards the back end of it, when the cap goes up and so do contracts around the league, but who honestly thinks that Datsyuk is going to be the same player in his mid-30's?

wa, wa, wa...

Lol at all these people crying.

That's an excellent way to stimulate hockey discussion.

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

I don't see what the big deal is, the Wings win on this one, not Pavel.

Yeah, he is getting paid good money, but he has HUGE pressure and obligation to be the TOP Wing for those 7 seasons. And if he isn't, he gets traded for a couple players to a smaller market team (hello Carolina, I'm looking at you).

The contract tells me more about his DEVOTION to THIS team, not his greed. No one signs 7 year deals, you know why? Because no one wants to sign 7 year deals in case they want to leave some day. But Pavel has signed a "lifetime" contract in some ways. He will not be an "elite" player at 35, but he will have his best seasons as a Wing, or he will be out of here.

Wings don't lose anything in this one, no draft picks, no minor league players. They only gain a hungry, talented player with something to prove to all his nay-sayers, or half of the fans of Hockeytown.

[J-Swift 0]

I don't see what the big deal is, the Wings win on this one, not Pavel.

Yeah, he is getting paid good money, but he has HUGE pressure and obligation to be the TOP Wing for those 7 seasons. And if he isn't, he gets traded for a couple players to a smaller market team (hello Carolina, I'm looking at you).

The contract tells me more about his DEVOTION to THIS team, not his greed. No one signs 7 year deals, you know why? Because no one wants to sign 7 year deals in case they want to leave some day. But Pavel has signed a "lifetime" contract in some ways. He will not be an "elite" player at 35, but he will have his best seasons as a Wing, or he will be out of here.

Wings don't lose anything in this one, no draft picks, no minor league players. They only gain a hungry, talented player with something to prove to all his nay-sayers, or half of the fans of Hockeytown.

No one is going to be taking on this albatross of a contract if Datsyuk falters. When you sign a deal like this, you're showing that you are totally committed to a player's ability to carry the franchise, and you have to ride it out. The guy is not going anywhere no matter how he does in the coming seasons.

And the fact that this contract puts "pressure" on Datsyuk hardly justifies giving him a guaranteed 6.7 million dollars a season until 2014. Given his playoff track record and his current position as the Wings highest paid forward (disregarding Bertuzzi of course), I assumed this "pressure" was already there.

[mk13 0]

BEST THING THE WINGS COULD HAVE DONE!!!

[Offsides 21]

Now, granted, I am the last person on the planet to hear about this. I'm very happy we re-signed him.

But I'm nervous on the amount...moreso the impact on who else we re-sign. I hope we get Bert again.

[sibiriak 84]

No one is going to be taking on this albatross of a contract if Datsyuk falters. When you sign a deal like this, you're showing that you are totally committed to a player's ability to carry the franchise, and you have to ride it out. The guy is not going anywhere no matter how he does in the coming seasons.

And the fact that this contract puts "pressure" on Datsyuk hardly justifies giving him a guaranteed 6.7 million dollars a season until 2014. Given his playoff track record and his current position as the Wings highest paid forward (disregarding Bertuzzi of course), I assumed this "pressure" was already there.

Datsyuk would have commanded upward of $6 mil. THIS year if Detroit allowed him to become a UFA. Next year players of Datsyk's caliber will get $6.5 -$7 mil. What albatross? Capitals or someone will cheerfully take on Datsyuk's $6.7 mil. per year next season, and in two years it will be a bargain.

Edited April 7, 2007 by sibiriak

[silkyjohnson13 0]

That's an excellent way to stimulate hockey discussion.

Once again, since you cut this part out: Apparently Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman and company have views that differ from yours - and i'll gladly be on their side.

Anytime a contract is signed and the whiners come out, all they do is point out how it will look in negative situations:

How will it look when Datsyuk never produces in the playoffs?

How will it look when Datsyuk's play declines from here on out?

How will it look... etc

And every time that somebody uses that logic, i'll gladly use the same side of thinking from the other side of the fence:

How will it look when Datsyuk becomes a playoff performer?

How will it look when Datsyuk's play continues to thrive?

How will it look when the cap goes up?

Nobody knows what will occur throughout the 7 years so all of this crying is useless. So people need to just let the thing play out and stop cryng and acting like they have a crystal ball in front of them.

And to one of your question:

Will Datsyuk be the same player in his mid-30s? From my understanding, player's primes are usually between 29-33 years of age. If that's the case, i have no reason to believe that Datsyuk won't be the same player for the next 5-6 years. That means he is not even hit his prime yet - and common sense should tell us this as we have seen his overal game drastically grow in the past season. And it's not like he plays a game that wears down his body - and the new style of the NHL should only help his cause.

By the end of his contract will his game by on the decline? Likely, but just as likely, so will his cap number. Every year his cap number will likely go down - and every year for the next few years i strongly believe that his game will remain at this level, if not get better.

And i do believe that some team would have been willing to give him 7 mil a season this offseason.

[J-Swift 0]

Datsyuk would have commanded upward of $6 mil. THIS year if Detroit allowed him to become a UFA. Next year players of Datsyk's caliber will get $6.5 -$7 mil. What albatross? Capitals or someone will cheerfully take on Datsyuk's $6.7 mil. per year next season, and in two years it will be a bargain.

You're not getting it. This isn't 6.7 million dollars for a season or two. This is 6.7 million dollars for the next seven years. If 50 million dollars isn't an "albatross" of a contract, just what is?

I would have never have guessed that when initial reports were saying Datsyuk and Greenstin wanted 7 million dollars, Ken Holland's counter-offer would've been 6.7 for the next 7 seasons. I'm still in shock at this deal.

Once again, since you cut this part out: Apparently Ken Holland, Steve Yzerman and company have views that differ from yours - and i'll gladly be on their side.

Anytime a contract is signed and the whiners come out, all they do is point out how it will look in negative situations:

How will it look when Datsyuk never produces in the playoffs?

How will it look when Datsyuk's play declines from here on out?

How will it look... etc

And every time that somebody uses that logic, i'll gladly use the same side of thinking from the other side of the fence:

How will it look when Datsyuk becomes a playoff performer?

How will it look when Datsyuk's play continues to thrive?

How will it look when the cap goes up?

Nobody knows what will occur throughout the 7 years so all of this crying is useless. So people need to just let the thing play out and stop cryng and acting like they have a crystal ball in front of them.

And to one of your question:

Will Datsyuk be the same player in his mid-30s? From my understanding, player's primes are usually between 29-33 years of age. If that's the case, i have no reason to believe that Datsyuk won't be the same player for the next 5-6 years. That means he is not even hit his prime yet - and common sense should tell us this as we have seen his overal game drastically grow in the past season. And it's not like he plays a game that wears down his body - and the new style of the NHL should only help his cause.

By the end of his contract will his game by on the decline? Likely, but just as likely, so will his cap number. Every year his cap number will likely go down - and every year for the next few years i strongly believe that his game will remain at this level, if not get better.

And i do believe that some team would have been willing to give him 7 mil a season this offseason.

I'm sorry, were you expecting Steve Yzerman to say that this deal blows?

Not only does Datsyuk have to become a playoff performer for this deal to be justifiable, he has to become the team's MVP within the coming years. Some would suggest he already is, but keep in mind that when Henrik Zetterberg was healthy and in the lineup, there was absolutely no question who the best player on this team was.

[silkyjohnson13 0]

Not only does Datsyuk have to become a playoff performer for this deal to be justifiable, he has to become the team's MVP within the coming years. Some would suggest he already is, but keep in mind that when Henrik Zetterberg was healthy and in the lineup, there was absolutely no question who the best player on this team was.

Nick Lidstrom?