Red Wings' Zetterberg confirms he'll miss start of season

Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg's back issues will force him to miss training camp and the start of the season, he told Swedish newspaper Sportbladet, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

"I have not been able to train and I cannot play NHL matches without being well prepared, especially not at my age," Zetterberg said.

Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill told MLive's Ansar Khan on Sunday that if Zetterberg wasn't ready to play by opening night, it's likely he won't feature at all this season.

Though a comeback shouldn't be completely ruled out, it's possible that the NHL has seen the last of Zetterberg, who will turn 38 in October. He has three years remaining on his contract with an annual cap hit of $6.083 million, but he's only owed $3.35 million in total salary this season, and $1 million in each of the final two years, per Cap Friendly.

Zetterberg hasn't missed a game since 2014-15, but he gutted through much of last season and was unable to practice for half of the year, Blashill said earlier this month. He still managed to put up 56 points.

Without Zetterberg in the lineup, Blashill will shift the speedy Andreas Athanasiou to the middle as the club's third-line center behind Dylan Larkin and Frans Nielsen, he told Khan.