It appears Ken Holland’s efforts to keep Pavel Datsyuk in Detroit were in vain, if the reports are true.

According to the news agency Reuters, Pavel signed a one-year contract with the Siberian team Avangard Omsk today. The report also says that Datsyuk rejected a $5 million offer by the Wings last week and was seeking $6 million from Detroit. His Russian salary is not included in the report but it does say his contract includes a clause that would allow him to return to the NHL mid-season.

Well. It’s no surprise to me that Pavel is staying in Russia. What is a surprise is that he signed with Avangard Omsk and not Moscow Dynamo like everyone’s been reporting for months. However, due to that little discrepancy, I’m taking this report with a bit of salt. Until it’s confirmed by the Detroit area newspapers, I won’t accept it absolutely. I full expected him to sign with Moscow but this signing has me doubting.

I’m assuming, since none of the reports say “per year,” that the $5 million offer the Wings made Pavel was a total, not yearly, amount. Same with what he was apparently asking for ($6 million). Although John Niyo has reported the two sides had agreed on a three year term, these numbers seem to indicate a two-year contract length (allowing Pavel to become a UFA in 2007, two years hence). So, under the Wings’ offer, he’d have made $2.5 million each year and under his, he would have made $3 million a year. That meshes somewhat better with his comment here (as quoted in the Russian media):

“I think I am worth at least what (Dany) Heatley or (Joe) Thornton got from their deals.”

Dany Heatley will make $3.5 million this year, while Thornton will make $6.66 million (so Pavel’s a little off).

Maybe I’m interpreting the reports wrong but I just find it hard to believe that Pavel would demand $6 million a year let alone that the Wings would offer him $5 million a year when they’re so hogtied already. With their cap room standing at about $7 million, they would have barely have had room to sign Henrik Zetterberg and would have had no room at all to sign anyone else. If they really want to sign 4-5 more players, the absolutely would not have offered Pavel $5 million a year. Period.

I’m obviously very sorry to see him go but I find some hope in the fact that he was able to secure an escape clause in his Russian contract. It looks like there’s a chance he could play in Detroit after all. If the report is true.

UPDATE (6. Sep 05):

The Detroit News has confirmed the signing. It’s for one year at $6 million, so I did interpret the report completely wrong.

Ugh.

More later, perhaps.

It looks like Ken Holland won’t get Labor Day off like most of the rest of us.

Pavel Datsyuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, has made September 5th the deadline for the Wings to meet an agreement with his client. If no deal is reached by then, Datsyuk will sign a contract with Moscow Dynamo and negotiations will be delayed until next spring.

John Niyo of the Detroit News reports that Ken Holland is unperturbed and is more interested in the NHL-imposed deadline for Group 2 free agency signings: December 1st. He quotes Holland as saying:

“They’ve got some dates that they feel are pressure points. But those dates don’t mean anything to me. I don’t think that’s a very good negotiation, when I’m operating under a deadline and nobody else is.”

Holland is obviously pushing for Datsyuk to have an “out-clause” if he does end up signing with Dynamo. In that case, the Wings could bring Pavel to Detroit if they free up some cap room at some point down the road. I don’t know how likey it is that Datsyuk would be able to convince Dynamo to incorporate such a clause or if he’d even be willing himself.

It doesn’t look good, folks.

Also, due to a mutual agreement between the two sides, further negotiations with Henrik Zetterberg have been postponed until early next week. So Kenny should have the whole weekend to dedicate to reaching an agreement with Pavel. I hope his time isn’t completely wasted.

Yesterday John Niyo reported that the Wings and Pavel Datsyuk were far apart in negotiations. Apparently, something has changed over the past 24 hours as Niyo is now reporting that the two sides are closer to reaching a deal.

Finally, perhaps, there was a positive sign late Wednesday in the ongoing negotiations between the Red Wings and restricted free agent Pavel Datsyuk.

A report in today’s Soviet Sport newspaper in Russia indicated Datsyuk was a last-minute no-show as the Russian national team left Moscow Wednesday for today’s EuroTour game against Sweden in St. Petersburg, Russia. Datsyuk had been practicing with the national team this past week.

Datsyuk’s agent, Gary Greenstin, last week told The Detroit News he wanted to have the framework for a new deal for Datsyuk in place by Sept. 1. He also said Datsyuk faced a Sept. 5 deadline for signing with Moscow Dynamo, the Russian SuperLeague team he played for last season during the NHL lockout.

Last weekend, Datsyuk, 27, rejected multiple contract offers from the Wings, ranging from 1-5 years in length. Greenstin, who met with Datsyuk in Moscow earlier this week, is believed to have faxed the Wings a counteroffer either Tuesday or Wednesday — a three-year deal appears to be the common ground — but neither Greenstin nor Wings general manager Ken Holland could be reached for comment Wednesday.

UPDATE (Matt, 5:47 PM ET):

Don’t get too excited yet. The AP has another report that puts a bit of a damper on any hopes you might still have. They quote Holland as saying today:

“We’re nowhere near a deal with either player. We’ve made a number of offers and they’ve made offers, but we still have a long way to go to reach deals.”

The Wings have about $7 million left to spend and, according to the AP story, want to sign 4 or 5 more players (this doesn’t fit with what I’ve heard, which is that they’d like to carry 21 players – they already have 19 players signed, all of whom are capable of playing on an NHL roster – that’s 8 defensemen, 2 goalies and 9 forwards without Pavel and Hank). That obviously doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for a couple young studs looking for significant raises.

This is scary:

“I feel we’ve made fair offers and there’s not a lot more we can do under the salary cap. I’m not concerned, but the closer we get to Sept. 12, I will be.”

How enouraging. I hope Kenny has a real reason not to be concerned because that just sounds arrogant. The Wings do not have the draw they used to apparently and that means Holland will have to work that much harder to get players to both come here and stay here. If he’s not concerned at this stage, something’s wrong.

UPDATE (Matt, 5:20 AM ET, 02. Sep 05): Note that the headline to Niyo’s “brief” is misleading. He does not actually say anywhere that the two sides are close to a deal, he just points out a bit of progress that was made (agreement the length of the contract). This doesn’t contradict what the AP said and what Niyo said earlier this week.