Amidst rumours, speculation, and careful wording from Red Wings staff, Henrik Zetterberg has confirmed in a Swedish language interview that he will not be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season.

In the interview with aftonbladet.se, Zetterberg opened up about the back pain that was instilled during the 2014 Olympics and resurfaced last February, at which point he stopped practicing and focused on games only.

This Summer, the pain has flared up any time he hit the gym and so he has not been able to properly prepare for an NHL season. At this point, Z has only said that he’s missing training camp and the start of the season. He is going to continue to attend rehab in Detroit and the doctors will re-assess his physical condition throughout the season to see if he can make a return.

This likely means that once the season starts, Zetterberg will be placed on the LTIR, providing the Red Wings with roughly $6-million in cap relief. Don’t expect the team to name a new captain this year, as it sounds like Z will still be around the team and in the locker room.

This also means that focus will shift to the Wings’ young stars as it opens up roster space for Michael Rasmussen and Filip Zadina on opening night. The team still has some cap manipulation to do so they are compliant by opening night, but expect the roster to start to take shape on or after October 4th.

Losing Zetterberg is not good. The team was bad enough last year and now they are losing their captain and second most productive player. The silver lining, though, is we get to see what guys like Zadina and Rasmussen can bring to the table in addition to the growing production of Dylan Larkin, Anthony Mantha and Andreas Athanasiou.

Hold on tight, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.