DETROIT -- While packing his gear Monday, Kirk Maltby realized it might have been his last time in the dressing room as a Detroit Red Wing.

"This could be my last official business with the Wings,'' Maltby said. "It's something that's inevitable. I'm just going to prepare myself like I'm going to be playing. Hopefully, here. If not, then somewhere else.''

The unrestricted free agent, one of the team's mainstays and a valuable grinder since 1996, might not be re-signed. At 37, he feels he has some hockey in him but acknowledges it would be strange playing for another team.

"I've been here for so long, I have roots here with my family,'' Maltby said. "If I have an opportunity to go somewhere else and it is the right fit, it definitely would be weird to put another color on.''

His longtime linemate and friend Kris Draper, who has one year remaining on his contract, waxed nostalgic.

"Mine and Malts' career have been intertwined in this organization. It seems like if they mention one name, they always mention the other,'' Draper said. "I think both of us have been proud of what we've been able to do in the Red Wings organization on and off the ice.

"If Malts isn't back, we're not only losing a great hockey player but a great friend and teammate.''

Draper knows all good things eventually come to an end.

"I know I'm getting there, the same goes for Chris Osgood, and people are talking that Nicklas Lidstrom might retire,'' Draper said. "A lot of guys who've been around for a long time and have done a lot of good things and won Stanley Cups, we know the end is coming. It's tough, it's emotional, but that's the business of the game.''

Maltby had season-ending shoulder surgery March 2 but said he'll be ready for the start of training camp, wherever he might be.