Do we want Detroit Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg to look like V-Mart?

Jamie Samuelsen | Special to Detroit Free Press

Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the "Jamie and Stoney" show at 6 a.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers. You can reach him at jamsam22@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @jamiesamuelsen.

If you were able to advise Detroit Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, what would you tell him?

I’m not in the business of telling people when they should retire.

First of all, it’s none of my business. Secondly, I’d never want someone to tell me when I should retire.

Henrik Zetterberg doesn’t seem to be seeking advice on what his next move should be. Or more to the point, he’s not listening to voices as much as he’s trying to listen to his body. And by all accounts, his body is telling him that his hockey career is over.

Zetterberg has been dealing with back issues ever since the Olympics in 2014. He missed stretches of seasons. He lost effectiveness on the ice at times. It got to the point last year where the only time he played hockey was in the games themselves, never in practice. The question is not whether Zetterberg can play in the NHL anymore. Of course he can. The question is whether or not he can play like Henrik Zetterberg again and it sure seems like he can’t.

Nicklas Lidstrom retired from the Red Wings in 2012. At the time, he was still the best defenseman on the roster and still one of the best in the NHL. That would have been true if he had returned for the 2012-2013 season as well. But when he retired, Lidstrom said that while he didn’t doubt his ability to play, he did doubt his passion and desire to prepare to play. In other words, Lidstrom wasn’t going to be Lidstrom unless he dedicated his entire summer to prepare to be Lidstrom. So he walked away.

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Can Zetterberg be Zetterberg without spending the offseason preparing to be Zetterberg? The answer is clearly no. His numbers have slipped in each of the past few seasons bottoming out last year with just 11 goals and 45 assists even though he played in every game. Teammates and coaches rave about his leadership and the importance of just being out there on the ice in games. But at some point, they all have to know that a 37 year-old player with a bad back doesn’t have nearly as much to offer as an 18 year-old with a bright future.

The issue comes down to two basic questions. Is Zetterberg’s leadership off the ice enough to warrant toughing it out for one more season. And the second and most important question — does Zetterberg even want to do this anymore?

The first question is more complex than some people realize. Look at Victor Martinez with the Tigers. He’s a shell of his former self. He bogs down the lineup because he can’t play anything beyond station-to-station baseball. He’s a designated hitter who rarely hits and at times a clean-up hitter with no chance to clear the bases. But he’s in the clubhouse every day and in the starting lineup almost every night. Why? Well, the contract is part of it (as it is with Zetterberg). But the other part of it is because manager Ron Gardenhire wants him out there as an example to younger players. And the other players want him there as well as evidenced by the dugout celebrations when Martinez came through with extra base hits on Monday and Tuesday night. Zetterberg appears to carry that same weight in the Red Wing dressing room and Ken Holland and Jeff Blashill would have no problem giving one of their roster spots to a player that can contribute in so many other ways than simply on the ice.

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But ultimately, the question is whether a former superstar, a former Conn Smythe winner and a current captain is willing to return to play the sport that he loves at a level at which he hates playing. We all wondered why Victor would play when he’s clearly not the same Victor that he was before. Love of the game? Love of the teammates? Love of money? Probably all of the above. Zetterberg has to ask himself the same questions. And he has to do so while clearly still suffering from back issues that make preparing for the upcoming season nearly impossible. And if we’re going to carry out the Zetterberg/V-Mart comparison, it’s obviously a lot easier to prepare to be a designated hitter than it is to prepare to be an NHL center. (And with a back injury, Zetterberg is likely to be the designated hit.)

Again, I will never tell a player what to do. It’s his life and his career and it’s the sport he’s played his whole life. Training camp is a month away followed by an 82-game grind. And if you’re not even at the point where you’re ready to start camp, then the grind hardly seems worth it.

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