TRAVERSE CITY -- Defenseman Andreas Lilja was at Centre ICE on Sunday, but he has not been cleared to play.
Lilja suffered a severe concussion last season that kept him out of the playoffs, and team officials said Sunday he will start the season on the injured list.
"I'll probably skate (today), but I'll probably skate on my own," he said.
Coach Mike Babcock talked about the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Lilja on Sunday.
"He's had a setback so it doesn't look like he's in the picture at all," Babcock said.
Lilja provided the team size and grit on the back end.
"We need Lils," goalie Chris Osgood said. "He's a great penalty killer. He blocks a lot of shots. He's a big body back there. He adds a presence. As the playoffs went along, we missed him."
Babcock is hoping 6-4, 206-pound Jonathan Ericsson, who filled in for Lilja last season, is ready to take on a full-time role.
"We need him to be real good," Babcock said. "Having a big body like Ericsson is so important for us. Obviously, we were thrilled with his development last year. Now he has to take another step and continue to work. That's never been an issue for him."
Babcock also indicated defensemen Derek Meech and Jakub Kindl will see plenty of action in the exhibition season.
When asked if this seemed like another important camp for him, Meech replied: "Big time."
ROAD TRIP: The Red Wings open their season Oct. 2-3 with a pair of games in Stockholm, Sweden, against St. Louis.
"We're looking forward to it and I know the fans over there are excited as well," team captain Nicklas Lidstrom said.
Lidstrom is one of several players from Sweden on the Red Wings roster. But he said he will not be the team's tour guide on the trip.
"I'm not from Stockholm," he said. "We have to rely on (Niklas) Kronwall for that. He lives there. He'll be our go-to guy there."
NO REST FOR THE JIRI: Former defensemen Jiri Fischer is the team's director of player development, and that means his schedule consists of extensive travel during the season watching the team's prospects. Fischer worked on ice with some of the players during last week's Prospects Tournament.
He said he not only offers advice on how players can improve their games -- reading plays, maintaining speed throughout the game, etc. -- but he also preaches off-ice responsibility and the need for players to be role models in their communities.
PICKER-UPPER: Ville Leino, who's expected to help pick up the scoring slack with the departures of Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky, had two goals and two assists in Sunday's scrimmage.
"That line was good," Babcock said.
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