If Daniel Alfredsson plays in the NHL next season, it will be for the Detroit Red Wings.
However, general manager Ken Holland won’t rush to make a decision on whether or not to re-sign the 41-year-old unrestricted free agent.
“He told us he really wants to play for us in Detroit, or else he’s not going to play,” Holland told the Detroit Free Press. “He feels good, but he’d like to feel a little bit better. We agreed that we’ll wait till he gets to Detroit in August, he’s going to skate every day in September, and then we’ll sit down and have a talk right before training camp and see what he’s thinking.”
Alfredsson, who left the Ottawa Senators after 17 seasons last summer to join the Red Wings as a UFA, put up 18 goals and 49 points in his first season with Detroit. He did deal with some back issues that kept him out of the lineup late in the season and caused him to miss two of the Red Wings’ five playoff games.
“He really would like to play again,” Holland added. “He’d like to take one more chance to try to be a playoff team and go on a longer playoff run than we did. A long, long playoff run.”
The veteran Swede had a cap hit of $3.5 million last season.