Detroit — Henrik Zetterberg played in all 82 regular-season games last season, adding to his resume as the clutch leader of this generation of Red Wings.
But as the long NHL season lingered, Zetterberg’s energy ebbed.
His 36th birthday was Sunday.
This season, Zetterberg scans a dressing room and sees Pavel Datsyuk gone, free agents Frans Nielsen, Thomas Vanek and Steve Ott arriving, and a roster in even more flux than at any point since the retirement of Niklas Lidstrom in 2012.
He hurt a knee during offseason workouts and it limited practicing and playing during exhibitions.