Deadmarsh, Allison Sit and Watch

King forwards Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh will be at Staples Center tonight for the team’s home opener against the Ottawa Senators.

They might sit in the press box. Or in lower-level seats near the ice. Or in the locker room, watching the game on TV.

They won’t be on the Kings’ bench, because there’s still no answer to a complicated question: When will the star forwards return to the ice?

It has turned into a tenuous situation for King administrators who said Allison and Deadmarsh would be back in time for last Thursday’s season opener at Detroit, a promise that appears overly optimistic at best. Both players are slowly recovering from injuries that sidelined them for most of last season.

Deadmarsh was derailed in December after a torrid start when he suffered a second concussion in a two-week period. Allison’s season ended when he suffered three whiplash collisions in a 10-day span in February.

Allison and Deadmarsh scored a combined 136 points two seasons ago. Last season, they sat out a combined 118 games.

“Early in training camp our feeling was that they would be ready to go early and maybe would be able to play the last few exhibition games,” Coach Andy Murray said. “Basically a couple weeks ago, we all started talking that they’re not coming along just like we hoped.

“They’ll tell us when they can play. It’s a matter of focusing on the guys that are here. The [injured] guys aren’t part of the equation. When they’re ready to rejoin the team, they will.”

Allison and Deadmarsh arrive at the King practice facility as early as 7 a.m. for 9 a.m. skating workouts that do not include contact, but are physically taxing. They skate in a small group with other injured skaters.

When asked whether he missed skating with the rest of the team, Allison said he understood the decision to focus on players that are in the lineup, but said being with only three or four players makes it challenging to mimic game situations.

“It’s been frustrating and hard because Deadmarsh and I want to be out there, and it’s hard when you have to watch and not be part of the team,” Allison said. “Sometimes it feels like I’m not part of the team, because I’m isolated doing my own thing. When I am healthy I’ll need extra time to skate with the guys because I haven’t had time to do drills at the NHL level. It would be nice to have that feeling back.”

Team President Tim Leiweke said last week that Allison and Deadmarsh would return in November, but both players have distanced themselves from any timetables.

“It’s frustrating, especially since the guys started playing again,” Deadmarsh said. “Once the summer came you don’t feel so bad at home, because you’re not missing anything. It’s kind of like the frustration is starting all over again. It’s just as frustrating for the coaching and management side that I haven’t healed quicker.”

The other players on the team have to wait. There’s no choice.

“It’s like any team in the league. You don’t want to have too many key injuries,” left wing Luc Robitaille said. “It’s very hard to win.

“Then again, it gives chances to other guys. But for us to do what we want to do, we need Deader to be healthy, we need Ally to be healthy. Your defensemen are key and your centers. You can’t miss those guys if you really want to make an impact.”

Defensemen Aaron Miller has a broken wrist and Mattias Norstrom has a bruised chest, but they are expected to return within two weeks.

“What can you do with guys with head injuries?” Miller said. “I don’t know when those guys are going to be there or if they’re going to be there, but obviously we need them in there. Those two are two of our most important guys.”

In the end, it is a difficult tug of war for Murray. He has had to move on without Allison and Deadmarsh, yet their importance to the team cannot be undervalued.

“I just look at it as if and when they come back, that’s two pretty good free agents we’ve added,” he said.

Even without Allison and Deadmarsh, the Kings have a good test tonight against Ottawa. The Senators are favored to win the Eastern Conference and, in some opinions, the Stanley Cup. The Kings were 2-1 on their season-opening trip with victories against weaker Pittsburgh and Chicago teams.

There will even be a little side drama tonight. The Kings traded center Bryan Smolinski to Ottawa in March for prospect Tim Gleason, a 20-year-old defenseman who has started all three of the Kings’ games.

Smolinski took a swipe at the Kings last month after signing a four-year, $10-million contract.

“I came to an organization that wanted to win,” he told reporters in Ottawa. “I liked the guys in the [locker] room and I like the direction this team has taken. This is my best chance to win a Stanley Cup and it wasn’t hard to see that.”