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Hall of Famer Signs One-Day Contract to Retire With Red Wings

The Detroit Red Wings are bringing back a franchise icon on a one-day deal to retire with their organization.

Nick Horwat

Nov 8, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Class of 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Pavel Datsyuk (left) is greeted by Hockey Hall of Fame members before a game against between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Nov 8, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Class of 2024 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Pavel Datsyuk (left) is greeted by Hockey Hall of Fame members before a game against between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images / John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
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Detroit Red Wings legend Pavel Datsyuk was recently honored for his career in hockey with an official induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. While the induction ceremony and speech were memorable, the Red Wings found another way to honor one of the best players in their franchise history.

NHL agent Dan Milstein announced on Twitter that Datsyuk came out of retirement to sign  a one-day contract with Detroit to retire as a member of the Red Wings.

Datsyuk’s professional hockey career spanned well over two decades between the NHL and KHL, but all of his time in North America was spent with the Red Wings. Between 2001 and 2016, Datsyuk played 953 games with the Red Wings and recorded 918 total points.

Known as the Magic Man, his stick-handling ability and scoring skills, Datsyuk scored 314 goals and 604 assists in the NHL.

Datsyuk was a three-time All-Star with the Red Wings and was part of two Stanley Cup championships.

The Red Wings took a chance on Datsyuk when they took him in the sixth round (171st overall) of the 1998 NHL Draft, his third year of draft eligibility. In 2001-02, he finished fourth in Calder Trophy voting as the NHL’s Rookie of the Year. He scored 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 total points.

Over his NHL career, Datsyuk proved to be one of the most complete players in hockey history. He went on to win the Selke Trophy three straight times between 2008 and 2010. Between 2005 and 2009, he won the Lady Byng Trophy four straight times. In 2017, the NHL named Datsyuk as one of the league's top 100 players of all time.

After leaving the Red Wings and the NHL, Datsyuk played five more years in the KHL until 2021. Even as he aged, his production never slowed down. In 299 KHL games after his NHL days, he scored 168 points.

Regardless of how much time he spent playing away from Detroit, he always knew the Red Wings were his family. As Milstein put it in his tweet, “Once a Red Wing, always a Red Wing.”

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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