Pretty sure that Datsyuk collected 7 mil in signing bonuses on his current contract that he won't be honouring the final year of. Nobody is asking for that cash to be returned.
The think is, outside of this season, he's fulfilled his contract obligations. I don't agree with how he went about things, but it is what it is.
I'm not overly concerned with other peoples money but I'm also not sure how his signing bonus works when he's loaned to an SHL team (do they pay it if his SHL salary exceeds what we would have paid him?). It could very well be that the sens didn't spend much if anything on him in terms of salary/signing bonus so there very well may be nothing to pay back.
For Datsyuk, he doesn't get a signing bonus in addition to his base salary. Because signing bonuses aren't put into escrow, he can earn more money by reducing his base salary and replacing it with a bonus (check our Ryan O'Reilly's contract if you want to see a very player friendly structure). So in year one of his current three year deal, he earned 5 mill in base and a 5 million signing bonus. Year two he earned 5 mill in base and a 2 mill signing bonus. For year three (the one he will not be honouring), he won't be collecting a signing bonus and thus won't be taking money without honouring his deal. It puts the Wings in a terrible spot with regard to the cap but he's not just taking the money and walking.
The Wikstrand situation is different. According to Cap Friendly, signing bonuses on entry level contracts are paid annually. So, Wikstrand was paid $80, 000 in 2014, and then another $80, 000 in 2015 before he upped and left for Sweden without ever having played a game for the Sens. Look, obviously he's decided that he doesn't want to come over and play in NA which, whatever, it's his career. But the Sens are right to be furious with this kid and he should without question pay them back. What he's done is wrong on so many levels. I would sue.