Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

A year after seeing their most dazzling player depart for the KHL, could another superstar seeking a return to the NHL interest the Detroit Red Wings?

There’s buzz in the hockey world that Ilya Kovalchuk wants to come back to the U.S. four years after splitting for his native Russia. Kovalchuk played for SKA St. Petersburg, which for the past year also has been home to Pavel Datsyuk. Datsyuk and Kovalchuk celebrated winning the Gagarin Cup earlier this spring, but where one wants to leave, the other has no such plans.

“I have been speaking to Pavel, and he is happy he is home,” agent Dan Milstein told the Free Press on Tuesday night from Cologne, Germany, where he is attending the World Championship. “Pavel put in a good 15 years in NHL. He is happy with decision.”

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Datsyuk, who turns 39 in July, departed Detroit with a year left on his contract. The Wings ended up trading the contract to Arizona during last year’s draft, because since the contract took effect after Datsyuk turned 35, the $7.5 million salary cap hit for 2016-17 would still have counted. They turned and used the money to sign Frans Nielsen and Thomas Vanek (who was traded to Florida on March 1).

Datsyuk underwent knee cap surgery in late March, and that rehabilitation, Milstein said, will prevent Datsyuk from holding a hockey school in the Detroit area this off-season. Datsyuk “will play next season, and for as long as he can,” Milstein said. Datsyuk signed a two-year deal with St. Petersburg last summer.

As for Kovalchuk, the New Jersey Devils own his rights, but could move him via a sign-and-trade. Should he interest the Wings?

Kovalchuk is 6-feet-3, 230 pounds, shoots right, and just turned 34 in April. He is an incredibly gifted player who accumulated 816 points in 816 NHL games. He put up 32 goals among 78 points in 60 games this past season. He will appeal to a number of teams – including the New York Rangers and Florida Panthers – and it is likely the Devils would want an asking price that does not make sense for the Wings.

The Wings have a better (and cheaper) shot at re-signing Vanek, in whom there wasn’t much interest at the trade deadline. He fit in well with the Wings, where, even though he only played 48 games with them, he still finished with the second-best points-per-game average at .79.

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Check out our Red Wings Xtra app on Apple and Android!