Pavel and Russia

I don't know if any of you heard it (I didn't) but there was a rumor which the Russian media started Friday that said Pavel Datsyuk had signed with a Russian team. His agent addressed the issue on Saturday:

"Not true at all," Greenstin said. "Pavel has not signed, and his first priority is to stay in Detroit. But if there's a lockout, we have to have options or a backup plan, and we do. He could maybe play in the new league (WHA) if that happens. Or he could go back to the old country (Russia)."

Greenstin has talked to three teams and says that their demand that NHL players give them one-year commitments has complicated things for players like Pavel, who would want to return to the League after a possible lockout. Datsyuk has said he wants to stay with the Wings and it doesn't look like he'll abandon them like Dmitri Bykov did last off-season. That Pavel could go to Europe in the event of a lockout certainly comes as no surprise since it's already pretty widely assumed that many European players would play overseas in such an event. I'm more worried about Nick Lidstrom bolting back to Sweden than I am about Datsyuk leaving. Nick has been looking for an excuse to leave for years and this would be his big opportunity.