The 40-year-old captain of the Detroit Red Wings then declared himself ready to start his 22nd NHL season tonight against the Los Angeles Kings at the Staples Center.

Yzerman missed the first four games because of a sore groin.

"I've had a chance to watch a few games, kind of feel a little bit left out," Yzerman said after a good workout at the HealthSouth Training Center. "So I'm anxious to get back in."

Yzerman will begin what is likely his final NHL season playing left wing on a line with Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby. And Wings coach Mike Babcock views that combination as more than just a checking line.

"We think that line can generate offense," Babcock said. "If you have one guy (Yzerman) who can make a bit of a penetrating pass, then we'd have three lines that generate offense."

At his age, and after much wear and tear on his knees over the years, Yzerman obviously doesn't move like he once did, so playing with two high-energy players should help.

"Both obviously have good speed and kind of opened up their game, play a little more offensively," Yzerman said. "They're good all-around players. For me, at this stage, I have to play really well to keep up and make sure I'm playing well enough to deserve to play on that line."

Babcock isn't sure how many minutes he'll play Yzerman. He'll take key faceoffs, but he won't play on special teams right away.

"We have two power-play units that are working well, lots of penalty-killers," Yzerman said. "So I'm not really sure how much I'll play (on special teams), and I'm not overly concerned about it."

Yzerman was expected to play fewer games during the 2003-04 season, taking the second night off during back-to-back situations. That plan quickly went out the window, however, as he ended up playing 75 games.

"I don't have a specific goal, other than whatever role I play to be productive in it," Yzerman said. "I'm not looking for any days off or games off or to be rested. Whatever line I'm on I want to be a productive player."

Goaltender Chris Osgood joined his teammates on the ice toward the end of practice and said he felt good after facing a barrage of shots for the first time since being idled with a torn groin muscle on Sept. 19.

If all goes according to plan, Osgood said he'll join Grand Rapids, the Wings' AHL affiliate, on Monday and play at least two games for the Griffins before returning to Detroit.

"I want to make sure I'm totally ready to play and in game condition before I start playing regular-season games here," Osgood said. "I don't want to come back and have any doubt in my mind if I'm ready. I'd rather play more (in Grand Rapids) than less."

Babcock shuffled his lines a little, reuniting Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk (with Tomas Holmstrom) and going back to the Robert Lang-Brendan Shanahan-Jason Williams line he used in the preseason.

"I'll move 'em around as I see fit," Babcock said.

Johan Franzen, who'd been playing left wing with Draper and Maltby, will center the fourth line with Dan Cleary and Mikael Samuelsson, who's scored a goal in each of the first four games. Mark Mowers is the odd man out.

Babcock said he was "100 percent sure" before practice that defenseman Jason Woolley would play tonight, but he wasn't so sure when it was over.

"It's hard when you haven't been at training camp," Babcock said.