DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings have lost players with alarming regularity this season, but soon they will have more than they can keep.



Good news came in bunches Monday for a team that has been decimated by injuries: Hard-hitting defenseman Niklas Kronwall will return to the lineup Tuesday against Phoenix. He had missed 91/2 weeks with a sprained knee.



Forwards Jason Williams and Tomas Holmstrom said they could return as early as Friday, or shortly thereafter.



Gritty, defensive defenseman Andreas Lilja, who hasn't played in 11 months because of a concussion, has been headache-free for 13 days, just short of the two-week minimum doctors had mandated before any discussions can take place about a potential return.



"We've played a long time without a lot of these guys, and our players have done a tremendous job hanging in the (playoff) race," general manager Ken Holland said. "We're anxious to get players back. It will take some time to gel, but the first step is getting guys back in the lineup."



Kronwall will have the biggest impact. The team has missed his puck-moving ability, his shot from the point on the second power-play unit, his penalty-killing, his open-ice hits and his overall defensive play.



"That's huge," forward Dan Cleary said. "Words can't describe how important he is to our team. He does everything great."



Kronwall will be reunited with defense partner Brad Stuart, whose workload should be slightly reduced.



"We need a boost right now," coach Mike Babcock said. "(Kronwall) gives you a dynamic guy on the back end, whether that be physical, defending, on the rush offensively, on the power play, on the penalty-kill."



Kronwall was injured Nov. 21 on a knee-on-knee hit by Montreal's Georges Laraque.



"It's been a long time, and I can't wait to get back out there," Kronwall said. "Feels good to be out there skating full power again. Everything feels good."



He has a lot of experience returning from long-term injuries (broken leg, torn knee ligament, fractured sacrum).



"Anytime you get back, you got to keep it simple and try not to get caught out there for too long, so you have some fuel left in the tank, especially now with a lot of games coming up," Kronwall said.



Williams, out since Nov. 7 with a fractured fibula, said he feels no pain, only slightly "wobbly."

"I just want to make sure I come back and be effective," Williams said. "I don't want to be a liability. I just would like to do some more battling drills to strengthen it up and see where I am."



Holmstrom, out since Jan. 6 with a hairline fracture in his foot, hasn't resumed practicing but skated by himself on Monday and said he felt much better than he did a couple of days ago.



Once Williams and Holmstrom are cleared to play, the Red Wings will be one player over the 23-man roster limit. One option is assigning center Justin Abdelkader to Grand Rapids (AHL), since he does not need to clear waivers.



The Red Wings will not have any salary cap issues until forward Johan Franzen is ready to return, which could be in early February or on March 1, the first game following the Olympic break. At that point, they would need to have cleared $1.5 million from their payroll. That includes the salary of the player they trim after Williams and Holmstrom return.

Wings cautious with Lilja

Lilja said he is feeling much better, but there is no time frame for his return.

“My plan from the start was to go 14 days without headaches and I’m hitting 13 today, so we’ll see what happens,” Lilja said. “I’ll stick to that plan and negotiate after that.”

By negotiate, he means discuss with doctors and management when he can be activated.

Just because Lilja is symptom-free for two weeks, however, doesn’t mean he is close to returning. Holland is taking a cautious approach until he receives more information from doctors this week.

“He’s had concussion-like symptoms for 11 months and has been symptom-free for two weeks; to all the sudden throw him in the lineup is a bit of a stretch,” Holland said. “But I’ll meet with (team doctors) and go by their guidelines.”

Holland believes there likely are other hurdles Lilja must clear before he is ready.

“Is the next step to give him the green light or further tests and evaluation?” Holland said. “We’ll be conservative and move slow. I have to get other people’s opinions -- expert opinions.

“We don’t want to put the player in a position where he comes back and all the sudden has a setback.”

Zetterberg, Datsyuk need spark

Babcock flip-flopped Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi. Cleary will play with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. Bertuzzi will skate with Valtteri Filppula and Drew Miller.

“For us to be successful, your best players got to be your best players,” Babcock said. “They got to generate offense. So we’re doing everything we can to put Pav and Z in a position to be successful. That’s nothing against what Bert was doing. It’s just that (Datsyuk and Zetterberg) aren’t scoring enough, so we’ll move them around and see what happens.”

Datsyuk has no goals and three assists in his past seven games. Zetterberg has two goals and three assists in his past 12 games.

Here are the line combinations Detroit skated with Tuesday at practice:

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Cleary

Bertuzzi-Filppula-Miller (Franzen working in)

Draper-Helm-Eaves (Williams working in)

Leino-Abdelkader-Maltby (May working in)

Lidstrom-Rafalski

Kronwall-Stuart

Lebda-Ericsson

Meech-Lilja (extras)

Howard (starting)

Osgood