(Another in a series of player profiles prior to training camp.)

Justin Abdelkader

Position: Left wing/right wing

Age: 30

Height/Weight: 6-2/218

2016-17 stats: 64 games, seven goals, 14 assists, 21 points, minus-20 rating, 50 penalty minutes.

Career stats: 544 games, 87 goals, 108 assists, 195 points, minus-17 rating, 457 penalty minutes; (playoffs) 64 games, six goals, seven assists, 13 points, minus-5 rating, 140 penalty minutes.

Contract status: Six years remaining with a cap hit of $4.25 million.

2016-17 in review: Lowest goal and point total in a non-lockout season since 2010-11. ... Tied for team lead with five power-play goals. ... Missed two games with a lower-body injury Oct. 22-25. ... Missed 16 games with a sprained right MCL Dec. 3 to Jan. 7. ... Ice time reduced to 16:40 per game from 18:26. ... Averaged 2:19 on the power play and 1:12 on the penalty kill. ... Second on team with 144 hits.

2017-18 outlook: The first season of Abdelkader's massive seven-year, $29.75 million contract was a huge disappointment.

His production dipped significantly (he scored 19 and 23 goals the previous two seasons), he wasn't as physical and hard to play against as in prior years and wasn't as effective as a net-front presence on the power play.

He missed five weeks with a sprained MCL and said the knee was troubling him all season, affecting his off-ice training, not his skating. It was determined after the season he didn't need it scoped.

The Red Wings need Abdelkader to return to his form of 2015-16, his best season, because he fills many roles with his size, abrasiveness, physical presence, net-front play, penalty killing ability and secondary scoring.

Abdelkader's struggles prompted a move to the fourth line later in the season. He'll be back in the top nine, possibly as one of Dylan Larkin's wingers.

Key question: Can Abdelkader reach the 20-goal mark again?