Henrik Zetterberg told a Stockholm media outlet Tuesday that he will not participate in training camp and thus won't be ready for the regular season.
Zetterberg, 37, has been battling serious back issues all summer, since first feeling the pain in February.
He told the media outlet Sportbladet the whole situation "is sad," but that he'll continue to rehab in Detroit.
“I feel good in every-day situations, it’s just when I push hard in training that I’m in pain," Zetterberg told Sportbladet in Swedish. "But of course it’s sad and hard to not be able to work as I used to.