Detroit Red Wings center Henrik Zetterberg announced that he will miss training camp and the beginning of the regular season due to a lingering back injury. Zetterberg has yet to do any training over the summer due to the injury.

Henrik Zetterberg tells @sportbladet that his back issues will force him to miss Red Wings training camp and the start of the season: "I have not been able to train and I can not play NHL matches without being well prepared, especially not at my age." https://t.co/tS6I6tboZF

— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) August 28, 2018

Henrik Zetterberg Remains on the Shelf

Zetterberg has spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings. He has scored 337 career goals and 623 assists for 960 points in 1,082 games. He was originally drafted in the seventh round, 210th overall in the 1999 NHL Draft. Zetterberg has won both the King Clancy Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy during his career. He led the Wings to a Stanley Cup Championship during the 2007-08 season. That season he scored a career-high 43 goals along with 13 goals in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

Last season Zetterberg had 11 goals and 45 assists in 82 games. He also added 14 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 50.6 % Corsi with a relative Corsi of +2.7 % t. Zetterberg is entering the 10th year of a 12 year, $73 million dollar deal.

If Zetterberg Returns Expect Reduced Ice Time

The 37-year-old Zetterberg has dealt with back issues all summer and could have played his last NHL game. Zetterberg has told SportBladet ” I have not been able to train and can not play NHL Matches without being prepared, especially at my age.

If Zetterberg is able to come back from his back injury expect his minutes to decrease. The Red Wings will most likely have Dylan Larkin playing first line minutes in Zetterberg’s’ absence. There is no question that if he is a pivotal part of the Red Wings roster. It will be interesting when or if we see Zetterberg back on the ice for the Red Wings.

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