DETROIT – Darren Helm is encouraged by the progress he's made this summer after missing virtually all of last season with a mysterious back injury.

But the Detroit Red Wings veteran forward stopped short of saying he plans to be in the lineup Oct. 2 for the season opener against the Buffalo Sabres.

That's still a long way off.

"I'm not thinking about it. I'm just trying to get better," Helm said Thursday after skating with about two dozen players at Joe Louis Arena. "I'm not putting a time line on opening the season. I'm just trying to get better.

"I did want to get back for last year, but with no real reason of why I had back pain it made me push harder and harder to work through it. Now, things are going well, I want to keep it at this pace and when I'm ready I'm ready."

Helm, 26, missed all but one game last season after injuring his back while working out during the NHL lockout. Doctors never gave him a definitive diagnosis as to what the problem was and he spent the entire season and most of the playoffs trying to return to the ice with no luck.

He was finally able to skate in July at the Red Wings Development Camp in Traverse City and reported no setbacks.

Since then, Helm has been skating and lifting weights at Joe Louis Arena and although he's feeling the usual pain that goes with working new muscles, he said he hasn't experienced the pain that sidelined him last season.

Darren Helm was one of nine Detroit Red Wings who skated at Joe Louis Arena Thursday.

"It's muscles I haven't used in 5-6 months," said Helm, who has played all or parts of six NHL seasons and was on Detroit's 2008 Stanley Cup championship team. "I use them here or there to try and get back last year. We've been skating pretty good here, having some good workouts and I'm just going to keep going.

"There are days where it's a little achy or sore but ... I can kind of distinguish between the good and the bad and it's mostly been good. Just kind of work through it, stretch through it, skate through it and it's been good."

While Helm doesn't want to think too far into the future, he did admit he's encouraged by the progress he's seen and is feeling positive about his health for the first time in months.

"When I get better I get better," he said. "I'm not putting time lines on it. I'm not focused if I have a bad day or a good day. I'm just going straight forward. Traverse City was the first time I've skated in a long time. Didn't know what to expect, a little nervous. I didn't want to push myself too hard at the start, but I eventually got there.

"I've been here two and a half, three weeks skating and it's been feeling really good. I've still got some work to do in the weight room and a few more things (on the ice) to get past, but I think it's really looking good."

Just being back with his teammates has been a victory of sorts.

"Even in Traverse City, to be out there in that atmosphere it was fun," Helm said. "This is where I want to be, I love being here with the guys, skating around and shooting pucks, joking around on and off the ice. I've missed it. I'm at a better mind state now than I was last year.

"I haven't felt the pain I've felt before in a long time."

The other Red Wings who joined Helm on the Joe Louis Arena ice Thursday were Jimmy Howard, Jonathan Ericsson, Todd Bertuzzi, Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Drew Miller, Brendan Smith and Mikael Samuelsson.

Other players on hand included former Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula, who signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler and Nathan Gerbe, who spent the last five seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. Kesler and Gerbe are Michigan natives.