Pavel Datsyuk signs 2-year deal with SKA St. Petersburg

Pavel Datsyuk officially announced that he is leaving the NHL to return to Russia, saying it’s been a fight in his mind whether to stay or not.

MOSCOW — Former Detroit Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk has signed a two-year contract with Russian club SKA St. Petersburg after leaving the NHL.

Datsyuk left the Red Wings last month with a year left on his contract, saying it was time to return home to his native Russia.

He moves to one of Russia’s richest clubs, which already has former NHL stars Slava Voynov and Ilya Kovalchuk on its roster.

SKA provided no financial details of Datsyuk’s new contract, saying only that it was "drawn up for two seasons." He had been on a three-year, $22.5 million deal in Detroit.

SKA said Datsyuk would play as No. 13, as he did in Detroit, and that he would oversee a summer training camp for talented youngsters from the area.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.