George Sipple

Detroit Free Press

Forward Johan Franzen skated with the Detroit Red Wings for the first time since he suffered a groin injury in Toronto on Oct. 17, but he probably won't be ready to play in a game this week.

"Not great, but it was a first time skating with the team," Franzen said of how he felt after today's practice. Franzen said he would travel with the team for Wednesday's game against the Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m., NBCSN) and would skate again in the morning.

How much did he push it today?

"I tried a few strides at 100%, or close to it," Franzen said. "It didn't feel great even then, so I backed off a little bit. Gotta start a little slower, probably."

Franzen said he would have to skate a few more days and re-evaluate, but he wasn't optimistic about returning this weekend. The Wings host the Los Angeles Kings on Friday and visit the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. Franzen remains listed as day-to-day.

"I haven't had a groin issue before," Franzen said "I don't know if it happened when I fell after that goal or what happened."

Franzen went down after scoring his second goal of the game against the Maple Leafs. He has two goals and three assists in four games.

Weiss to Grand Rapids: The Wings today assigned center Stephen Weiss to the Grand Rapids Griffins for conditioning. The plan is for Weiss to play two games with Grand Rapids, then get into the Wings' lineup during their upcoming road games.

Homer visits: Former net-front presence Tomas Holmstrom visited the Wings today. He said he tries to keep track of the Wings as much as possible back home in Sweden.

Asked about the team's struggles on the power play, Holmstrom said: "Ah, you know it is. It goes up and down. What do they have, two power-play goals so far? We've been there. I've been there. To get successful, you cannot be one and done. You need to get the pucks to the net. ... Shoot, get the puck back and then do it again."

Eye on Ovechkin: Star forward Alex Ovechkin has five goals and one assist for the Capitals. Jimmy Howard, who will start in net for the Wings, said he knows that Ovechkin is going to shoot the puck. Ovechkin leads the Capitals with 31 shots, 11 more than second-place John Carlson.

"You gotta find him," Howard said. "He's always up and down the weak side there."

The Wings are expecting the Capitals to be a bit more structured under new coach Barry Trotz, who previously coached the Nashville Predators.

"My video of them doesn't tell the whole story," Wings coach Mike Babcock said of the Capitals. "I know Trotz is a real good coach and been in the league a long time. I'm sure he'll have a committed group there, over time. They got a ton of skill and a ton of size. ... I imagine their attention to detail defensively will be heightened, just because Trotzy likes his guys to play."

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. Helene St. James contributed.