Helene St. James

Detroit Free Press

Regular pain and the occasional lack of confidence is casting light on why Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson has struggled in recent seasons.

Speaking today after a nearly two-hour informal skate at Joe Louis Arena, Ericsson opened up about what has bothered him. First and foremost, he's suffering from a condition called hip impingement that's bad enough to require regular treatment but not quite bad enough that Ericsson wants to undergo a surgery that comes with at least a four-month recovery.

“It's not 100%,” Ericsson said. “I want to have that as a last out.”

Ericsson, 32, said the injury is common among hockey players because of how they have to open up their hips while skating. Basically, the femur's head ends up not allowing a normal range of motion in the hip socket.

“It's supposed to be a round socket that goes into the hip, and that's not round right now,” Ericsson said. “It's, like, square. I just try to deal with it as good as possible. Before I knew what it was, after some games, I had a hard time walking. Once we figured out what it was, then we could treat it. Now it's not as bad.

“We’ll see how it goes. It gets a little worse every year. There's arthritis in there, too.”

The injury helps explain why Ericsson's play has not been very good the past few seasons. “Some nights,” he said, “it's tougher to skate and move around.”

He openly admitted that last season was disappointing. “At the end, I didn't feel very confident. What the factors are, I'm not sure. But I didn't feel very confident with the puck and stuff like that. I want to feel better.”

Ericsson, who is signed through 2019-20, at an annual salary cap hit of $4.25 million, said a summer of rehabilitation has helped. He spent most of the off-season in the metro Detroit area, partly because his wife gave birth to their son, Leo, in late June.

He's hoping that feeling fit and knowing how to deal with the injury can stave off surgery -- and that he regain his confidence on the ice.

“Over the years, you lose it sometimes, and it's hard to get back,” Ericsson said. “You’re going to have to get into a good role playing and feeling good about everything. That's a big part of how everyone is playing, I think. It’s just working hard and making sure your body is ready. I had a good summer and set myself up as best I can.”

Detroit Red Wings expect more from veteran Jonathan Ericsson

Contact Helene St. James: hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.