Ukraine Turmoil Keeps Veteran Moving

NEWARK — The Devils have invited veterans to training camp. A few even have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup.

Among them is Ruslan Fedotenko, who helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win the Cup in 2004. He has played 12 seasons on various Eastern Conference teams, including the Rangers and the Islanders.

During the lockout of 2012, Fedotenko returned to his native Ukraine to play in H.C. Donbass’s inaugural season in the Kontinental Hockey League. Donbass is named for the region of eastern Ukraine that includes Donetsk, the club’s home, and Luhansk. It is the only K.H.L. team in Ukraine and one of seven K.H.L. clubs based outside Russia.

“For the fans there, it was a huge deal,” Fedotenko said. “Finally, they have a team in the K.H.L. The K.H.L. is one of the best leagues in Europe there, and it was great pride.”

When his contract with the Philadelphia Flyers ran out in 2013, Fedotenko signed a three-year contract with Donbass. He was quickly named captain, the country’s prodigal hockey son. Fedotenko helped guide the team to its first playoff berth.

“They recruited me to come back and help revive the hockey in Ukraine,” Fedotenko said, “and I felt like it was the right decision at the time.”

Few hockey players have experienced more upheaval in the last 12 months than Fedotenko.

Widespread protests erupted in Ukraine late last year when President Viktor F. Yanukovych rejected a trade agreement with the European Union in favor of a deal with Russia. Mr. Yanukovych was forced from office in February, but that led to armed rebellion by pro-Russian rebels in the east and Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.      

Violence broke out in the spring in Donetsk, 40 miles from the Russian border, as separatists took control of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk. Donbass was forced to play its remaining regular-season games on the road, and its home playoff games were moved to Slovakia.

While a K.H.L.-friendly arena was being built, Donbass’s home rink, Druzhba Arena, was looted and burned by pro-Russian gangs in May, days after Ukraine elected Petro O. Poroshenko as president. The election was supposed to bring stability, but fighting continues in Ukraine.

Donbass flirted with the idea of relocating in Eastern Europe, perhaps Prague; Minsk, Belarus; or Poprad, Slovakia, for the season, but the K.H.L. suspended the team’s operation. Players under contract were given permission to play this season wherever they chose.

“Ukraine is fighting with Russia, and we need to be playing in the K.H.L. in the Russian league?” Fedotenko said. “It was not making sense.”

He signed a tryout agreement with the Devils on Sept. 13, although they have few spots open. If he does not make the team, he hopes a different N.H.L. team will come calling for this season.

“I feel like I can play different roles,” said Fedotenko, 35. “I would love to play for New Jersey; it’s a great organization. I would be honored to play here, but if I don’t fit in their roster here, I feel like I’m not that old, and I’m in good shape and am versatile.”

Donbass plans to return to the K.H.L. next season in its new 12,000-plus-seat Kalmius Arena.

“If there’s a season there, they have my rights,” Fedotenko said of Donbass. “I don’t think there’s going to be a team there next year. If everything settles down, and if they bring the team back, then I’m still under one-year contract.”

He added: “It’s not good for the hockey, but I’m looking at people losing their homes, their loved ones, everything they have. They have a greater loss than just the team in Ukraine. I feel like, when you put it into perspective, it’s still a sport. In the end, when people are losing their lives and limbs, and when you see that, it puts everything in perspective.”