from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,

Niklas Kronwall doesn't know if he wants to retire after this season, and the Detroit Red Wings have interest in bringing back the 38-year-old defenseman.

No matter what happens, it's surprising considering where he was a few months ago.

"Going into the season," Kronwall said before the Red Wings played the Ottawa Senators at Little Caesars Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; FS-D, TSN5, RDS2, NHL.TV), "I thought for sure that this would be the end of the story."

Kronwall has had chronic problems with his left knee for years. In August, he said he had to be realistic that this season could be it. He was entering the last season of his contract and getting older while the Red Wings were getting younger....

"I wondered where he was at physically," Blashill said. "I didn't know if he'd be able to grind through every game. I didn't know how his play was going to be. I didn't know how much his knees were going to affect him in his ability to be good. I thought it was slipping a little bit the wrong way."

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