I know he burned bridges with the Pens when he made comments about Dan Bylsma which were neither disputed or confirmed properly. I know when the Wild played the Pens, he seemed to be fired up and really went after Malkin for some weird reason, like he really hated him. No other guy, just straight for Malkin.
Petr Gun wasn't the same the last 20 games of last season and all of the playoffs, he was basically invisible and when a guy that is only useful when he scores because he has no other intangibles isn't scoring, you have no choice but to bench him and when that happened Satan took his place and basically played the best hockey he's played since he was a Sabre. Satan even got into a fight, played a grinder role and set up a few nice goals. Sykora, played in a game and broke his foot while blocking a shot trying to emulate Satan's, I'll do anything to play, attitude.
At this point he can look at the KHL as an option and make good coin while playing less in a league that really isn't all that rampant with challenges or he can stick it out and try again next year at a cheaper price for 1yr to see if he still has it in him. He's not terribly old, I believe he turns 34 this year. He should have a year or two left in the tank.
