Report: Ex-Red Wings forward Daniel Alfredsson won't play this season
Former Detroit Red Wings forward Daniel Alfredsson won't play this season, reports TSN's Darren Dreger.
According to the report, Alfredsson himself hasn't told the Red Wings he won't play in 2014-15 but the team has been informed of his decision.
Dreger intimated that Alfredsson, an unrestricted free agent, is planning on announcing his retirement Monday when the Red Wings host the Ottawa Senators, the team for whom Alfredsson played the first 17 seasons of his career.
The Detroit Free Press reported that the Red Wings have been operating under the belief that Alfredsson is retiring since last month, the last time that the 41-year-old has skated regularly. He hasn't since given any indication he will return to the NHL.
• CAZENEUVE: Plus/Minus: That 70s line, Johnson saga and more
Alfredsson's status has been in doubt since he said before the season that he wasn't decided on his future due to lingering back pain.
Alfredsson said he would either retire or sign with the Red Wings, the team he spent last season with after leaving Ottawa, but hasn't skated with the team since September. It was then that Alfredsson experienced a setback that increased the likelihood he would retire.
Originally a sixth-round pick of the Senators in 1994, Alfredsson has scored 444 goals and recorded 713 assists for a total of 1,157 points in 1,246 NHL games. He tied for the team lead in scoring for Detroit last season, recording 49 points in 68 games.
• PAGE: Eye Test: P.K. Subban vs. The Man
The Red Wings have 25 points through 19 games this season and are in fourth place in the Atlantic Division. They travel to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
- Ben Estes