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The Detroit Red Wings are in a crunch this summer financially.

The team will not have to pay the final year of veteran forward Pavel Datsyuk’s contract, as he’s heading back to Russia to finish out his career. They will, however, be responsible for his massive, $7.5 million cap hit – and with an already tight budget for next season, that’s going to sting.

As a result, the team is reportedly looking to move Datsyuk (or, more accurately, his cap hit) to a team that has the space. That won’t come cheap, though, as the teams on the receiving end can largely set their own asking price.

That price seems to be starting off extremely high, as well.

Per Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press, teams are approaching Red Wings general manager Ken Holland asking for top prospects to be shipped off with the Datsyuk contract. Via her report Tuesday morning:

“Holland has “talked to a few teams” about the situation, but early demands have focused on 2015 first-round pick Evgeny Svechnikov and Andreas Athanasiou, whose speed and ability to create something out of nothing repeatedly was demonstrated down the stretch this past season.”

The Red Wings almost certainly want to shell out far less to rid themselves of the cap hit. That may not be possible, though; despite the lack of a monetary requirement with Datsyuk’s $7.5 million hit, the teams that would be easing Detroit’s burden very clearly have the upper hand in negotiations. If teams aren’t willing to back down on the higher asking price, the Red Wings may have no choice but to hold on to the contract – and miss out on the free agent sweepstakes this summer.

There is one other option to move, though – per St. James, the team will still consider moving goaltender Jimmy Howard for cap relief.

Teams asking Red Wings for Svechnikov, Athanasiou