A promising sign for Niklas Kronwall.

The Red Wings look like they might be close to getting their veteran defenseman back in the line up.

According to a report from Helen St. James of the Detroit Free Press, Niklas Kronwall resumed practicing with his teammates on Friday, the first time since undergoing knee surgery back in January. While his return to practice is of course a positive sign, Kronwall is not yet ready to resume play, and head coach Jeff Blashill stated that after nearly a month off the ice, Kronwall's conditioning needs some work.

"He's in a spot, after three-and-a-half weeks, where conditioning becomes a factor, where hockey conditioning becomes a factor," coach Jeff Blashill said. "We don't have lots of real practices. We practice tomorrow, but it'll be light, based on the three-in-four."

As for how soon fans can expect Kronwall back on the ice, Blashill would not give any sort of timetable, but did seem to indicate it would still be some time before Kronwall is fully ready to go.

"It's going to take a little bit to make sure he's up to 100% speed," Blashill said. "We don't want to put in a D-man that isn't 100% ready to go. I don't think it's a good thing to put guys in without putting them in the best position to hit the ground running.

"We"ll make sure he's in position to hit the ground running. When that is, we"ll take that day-by-day."

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