The Red Wings welcome the Ottawa Senators Monday night, but an upcoming announcement might overshadow the game.
TSN's Darren Dreger is reporting that Daniel Alfredsson, who spent the first 17 years of his NHL career with the Senators, plans to retire.
The Wings had left the door open for Alfredsson to return if he could overcome the back injury that cost him time last season and continued to hinder him when he tried to skate before training camp this year.
Alfredsson, who turns 42 Dec. 11, has an injured disc in his back that's aggravated by playing.
During his 18-year career, Alfredsson scored 444 goals and 713 assists in 1,246 games.
Alfredsson won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the rookie of the year for the 1995-96 season, the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and humanitarian contribution for the 2011-12 season and appeared in six All-Star games (1996-98, 2004, 2008, 2012).
He also played on five Olympic teams for Sweden, winning gold in 2006, but Alfredsson never won the Stanley Cup.
