Well, after
Khan's article today, it's clear that:
- Holland and the Wings are absolved of this fiasco; given that it was the Wings who worked to shorten the deal as much as possible, while Datsyuk wanted FIVE years, and also because Datsyuk didn't bring up the idea of returning to Russia until a year after the contract was signed.
- At best, Datsyuk is naive and Greenstin is one of those agents who works for himself and not his client; given that Holland says he believes Datsyuk didn't understand the 35+ rule.
- At worst, Datsyuk knew (or knew there was a strong possibility) that he was not going to ultimately honor the contract and went for the most amount of money he could get in the shortest period of time as possible anyway; given that Datsyuk says he did understand the 35+ rule yet still signed the contract.
Given that Datsyuk fired Greenstin and hired Milstein last year, I think the "at best" scenario is more likely than the "at worst." But that's based on speculation, since none of us know
exactly why Datsyuk switched agents.
Regardless, Datsyuk screwed up here, whether it was born of his own naivety/gullibility, or his own dishonesty. I begrudge no one for looking past that and maintaining their love for the guy (personally, I only begrudge him on principle, I have no ill will towards him), but do only that. Stop trying to spin this as being Detroit's fault. The facts don't support that stance.