Henrik Zetterberg.JPG

Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg led the team with 50 points but faded during the second half of the season.

(Mike Mulholland/MLive.com)

DETROIT - Finding ways to stay fresh for a full season is one of the foremost challenges for Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg as he approaches his 36th birthday and 14th NHL season.

Zetterberg remains an important player for a team that has squeaked into the playoffs in each of the past four seasons - he was Detroit's leading scorer in 2015-16 - but he has faded during the second half two years in a row.

"One of those things is manage your time, not just on the ice but off the ice, too," Zetterberg said. "If that means working more in the gym or working less in the gym, you got to find your moments to be fresh.

"I think that's what's kind of got me the last two years -- I ran out of gas. You can't play hockey at this level when you're out of gas. That's one of the things we're going to play around with this year."

His ice time might be reduced, after he averaged 19:25 per game (second among the team's forwards). Perhaps he'll be rested on some back-to-back nights (he played all 82 games last season).

"I think as a player as soon as you hear less minutes you're not happy," Zetterberg said. "I don't think I will tell Coach (Jeff Blashill) I need less minutes, but if he decides that I need to play less or get some rest days I'm open to that. I looked at the schedule, I think we have 17 back-to-backs, the same as last year. We got two breaks this year (All-Star break and bye week); we only had one last year. To me, (the schedule) looks a little better."

The Red Wings plan to use Dylan Larkin at center and play Zetterberg more on the wing. That could help reduce his workload.

"If you're a winger you don't work as much in your own end as you do at center," Zetterberg said. "Then again, we'll see how much wing and how much center I will play. If I play wing I will probably wind up in my own end, too, so it's not that big a difference the way it has been the last few years."

Zetterberg tweaked his knee going through his usual workout routine at the gym last month, calling it a fluke thing. He is not sure if he'll be ready for the start of training camp on Sept. 23 but said his goal is to be 100 percent for the start of the regular season on Oct. 13.

"Basically, when I'm pain-free, that's when I can go back to skating," Zetterberg said. "I've got to be able to do stuff off the ice before I go out on the ice."

Withdrawing from the World Cup provides an opportunity to be at full strength for the start of the season.

"We've got plenty of time now; I didn't have that if I was going to the World Cup," Zetterberg said. "Missing camp, obviously it's not optimal. You want to be up there, you want to be with the guys and skate with them, but if I'm not, I will still be up there, maybe not participating as long."

Zetterberg has five years remaining on his contract, but his age, injuries and salary ($1 million in each of the final two seasons) might prompt him to retire early.

"You got to be realistic; I'm getting up there," Zetterberg said. "But I'm not the oldest guy on the team - on the roster at least (the injured Johan Franzen is 36). But I'm getting closer. Looking back on my career, I never thought I'd be the oldest guy. But it's part of life."

Zetterberg addressed a few other topics:

On withdrawing from Sweden's World Cup team (he had been named captain): "There's a good chance this was my last chance to play for Team Sweden. A tournament like World Cup doesn't come around that often, so that was a hard part. It was the only decision to make. It was a tough day when I had to make that call."

On new teammate Frans Nielsen, whose dressing room stall is next to Zetterberg's: "Frans and I know each other. We played (together) back in Sweden. Actually, his wife is from my hometown in Sweden. I think it was a great addition, probably one of the most underrated players in the league, done a really good job (with the New York Islanders) for many years. I think we're all pretty thrilled to have him on our team."

On not having Pavel Datsyuk around: "I knew (he was leaving for Russia) for a while. With Pav, I don't think you know 100 percent anything. So it was hard. But in the same way, it was kind of nice for me to know. Unfortunately, (his NHL career) ended way faster than we wanted it to. He felt that he was ready to move home to his family and play hockey in the KHL. Once you make that decision, you can't be over here and play, you've just got to follow your heart."