Deadmarsh, Allison Face Uncertainty

Only three Kings participated in Sunday morning’s skate, a special assembly for the ailing and injured.

As the rest of the team took a day off, forwards Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh and defenseman Aaron Miller skated without contact at the King training facility in El Segundo. And with the start of the season drawing near, their frustration was becoming clear.

They are three of the most prominent Kings, and they are all expected to miss Thursday’s season opener at Detroit, Miller for sure because of a fractured wrist that has left him unable to fully grip a hockey stick.

Miller’s condition is easier to gauge because fractures have time frames for healing. His is expected to take at most three weeks and could clear up within a week.

It is less simple to affix a return date for Allison, out with a whiplash injury since February, and Deadmarsh, still recovering from a concussion he sustained in December.

“My goal was to start the season,” Deadmarsh said. “It’s not looking like I’m going to. It’s not for sure, but it’s looking that way. I still feel [the concussion] every once in a while. I don’t know why it’s still there, but it is.”

Allison is in similar straits. He still doesn’t feel he’s at full strength. His return date is unclear.

“We haven’t even discussed it,” he said.

After Detroit, the Kings play Friday at Pittsburgh and Sunday at Chicago. Then they return for seven home games, the longest home stand of the season.

Miller, trying to think optimistically, wants to be back within a week.

“I’m hoping to get on that road trip with the possibility of playing at the end of it, maybe in that last game,” he said. “It doesn’t magically heal, but it’s still what I’m hoping for.”

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The saga of defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov continues to unfold slowly. Kuznetsov will miss all of training camp and at least the first four regular-season games as he waits in Russia for a visa to return to the U.S.

Kuznetsov’s delay in Moscow stems from a drunken-driving arrest five years ago.

“Hopefully he’s going to get a Canadian visa [today] at the Canadian embassy in Moscow,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said. “He would then travel Tuesday to Toronto and wait for a U.S. visa. That could be another 10 days. Hopefully.”

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Forward Lubos Bartecko, a training-camp invitee, has not signed a one-year contract offered by the Kings. Bartecko had a goal and an assist in four preseason games and was offered a two-way deal believed to be worth at least $110,000 and as much as $450,000 if he spends the entire season with the Kings.

Bartecko is looking for a one-way deal that would guarantee him a full season with an NHL team. He is also considering options in Europe but has not ruled out the Kings.