Red Wings' Henrik Zetterberg agrees to join Swiss team

• Zetterberg said as late as last week that he wasn't eager to play overseas
• He changed his mind because he said that spots overseas were getting scarcer
• EV Zug also has Damien Brunner and Raphael Diaz on its roster

Detroit Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg became the latest big-name NHL player to head overseas, agreeing during the weekend to join EV Zug in Switzerland.

"Yes, I'm going to play in Switzerland," Zetterberg said Monday morning, after a sharp, 90-minute practice session with about 15 fellow Wings players at the Troy Sports Center.

"I think, like I was saying before, I wanted to wait a little bit before I went and played (overseas). ... But in the last few weeks, the indication is it's going to get tougher and tougher to get spots over there, especially with the contract I have and insurance costs."

Zetterberg -- who turns 32 Tuesday -- said as late as last week that he wasn't eager to go anywhere. During the lockout in 2004-05, he played for his old club in Sweden. But that wasn't an option this time around, because he has $50 million left on his contract, requiring heavy insurance.

"I got an offer last Friday from Zug, looked into it a little bit, talked to a few players who played in Zug in Switzerland," he said. "They said it was a great place to be at and play some hockey. So we had to make a quick decision. Late last night, me and my wife ... talked about it, and we said, 'Just give it a shot,' and it's going to be fun to go and play some hockey."

Zetterberg, who will leave for Switzerland and his new club Friday, said he'd only consider a place in Europe where neither the insurance nor the taxes would be devastating. He found the answer with Zug, also home to rookie Red Wings forward Damien Brunner and Montreal Canadiens defenseman Raphael Diaz.

Zetterberg was far from the only big-ticket NHL player to have gone overseas. Teammates Pavel Datsyuk and Valtteri Filppula signed in their native Russia and Finland, respectively, before the NHL canceled the first two weeks of the season.

Last week, Philadelphia Flyers stars Claude Giroux and Danny Briere signed to play in Germany. Russia's Kontinental Hockey League already has loaded up with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pekka Rinne and Ilya Kovalchuk. Gabriel Landeskog, recently named the captain of the Colorado Avalanche, is one of many NHLers in Sweden.

Like all the NHL players going overseas to play, Zetterberg has an out clause, but his decision to go through all the trouble of insuring himself and his contract and the hassle of setting up in a new place is a pretty good indication that the NHL labor dispute is going to drag on. Owners locked out players Sept. 16, the day after the collective bargaining agreement expired.

The two sides have scheduled a new set of talks Wednesday and Thursday in New York.