As for his teammates, they were back at practice in Newark, N.J.

"I expect him here," defenseman Bryce Salvador, one of the team's NHLPA player representatives, told the AP. "Like I said, I don't know, until you officially talk to him or hear. I think now with the KHL, it's kind of bad timing there. They are going into their All-Star Game and stuff like that, so I think that's where you're hearing all that stuff from."

Defenseman Mark Fayne smiled sheepishly when asked about Kovalchuk. "I think it's a little better with him here," he said.

Defenseman Andy Greene, who was driven to practice by Fayne, thinks things will play out just fine as the club seeks its sixth conference title.

"Obviously, we want him here," Greene said. "He is a big part of the team. I don't know. It's all speculation."

Really, though, Kovalchuk's absence is likely a case of attempting to prove a point. That's not the case with Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky.

Visnovsky, who has yet to play a game on Long Island and initially tried to block the trade that landed him there, has said he'll stay with HC Slovan Bratislova for "family and personal reasons."

Not so fast, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to Newsday's Arthur Staple.

"We have an agreement with the KHL that would preclude Mr. Visnovsky from continuing to play in the KHL once the lockout is officially lifted," Daly said. "I assume that agreement will be respected."