Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News with questions for Jeff Blashill,

Just returning from a family vacation, Blashill was refreshed and energized. Although the questions about Zetterberg’s availability make for a difficult unknown.

Question: Jeff, certainly there’s a lot of talk right now regarding Henrik Zetterberg. What’s the latest on him? Have you talked to Hank at all, and what do you expect at this point?

A: “As you know, Hank wasn’t able to practice for half the year. He was able to gut it out through those last two months where he wasn’t able to practice. There were nights I didn’t think he’d able to play and he did play.

“He’s had a hard summer and I don’t think his back is reacting great. Certainly we’ll know more in a month (at training camp), but as of today, there’s a lot of doubt as to whether his back will be healthy enough to play.”

Q: You’ve said several times you’ll divide the groups a little differently next month, correct?

A: “I’ve done camp differently at different years. It’s based on where your team is at, and last year I knew to a large degree the guys who were on the inside to make the team and the guys who were on the outside, and divided the teams that way. I felt it gave us a jump-start on practicing as a group.

“This year I would say there’s more competition for jobs. I’ve let it be known both privately and publicly, and I’m going to divide the teams accordingly so we’re going to have three, probably three, even teams and we’re going to compete for jobs.”

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