AMHERST, N.Y. (AP) – Defenseman Alexei Zhitnik took to the ice wearing his jersey inside-out, the Buffalo Sabres logo barely visible through the white stitching.

It was, perhaps, a fitting sight of a player that faces an uncertain future even once the NHL lockout ends. Zhitnik was among about 100 veterans that remained unrestricted free agents once the lockout began on Thursday, left without a league and team to call his own.

Zhitnik sees little distinction between players that are or aren’t under contract.

“I think everybody’s in the same situation,” Zhitnik said. “If you do have a team, if you don’t have a team, you’re not going to make any money.”

Zhitnik took part in an informal practice with several Sabres players in suburban Buffalo Thursday, wondering whether the entire season – as some fear – might be disrupted.

The two sides are deadlocked over how to change the NHL’s economic system. Owners are demanding cost certainty, but players say that would be tantamount to a salary cap, which they are against.

Zhitnik is a 12-year veteran who completed his ninth full season with the Sabres in April. Despite anticipating a labor dispute, he elected to pursue free agency by rejecting a four-year, $16 million contract offer that represented a slight raise over the $3.75 million base salary he made last season.

While he has not ruled out returning to Buffalo, Zhitnik made the decision confident he will get a better offer once play resumes.

Zhitnik said he attracted some interest from at least two teams, neither of them Buffalo, in the weeks before the lockout. And he understands why no one has yet made him an offer, particularly when owners are campaigning for a reduction in salaries, and no one knows what the market will be whenever a new bargaining agreement is reached.

“I understand management’s position,” Zhitnik said. “Why should they sign somebody long term if nobody knows what’s going to happen. From my perspective, if I was in a management position, I would do the same.”

So he’s left to wait and work out.

He said he’ll spend the next couple of months in Buffalo before determining whether to travel to Russia and play for a team there.

Zhitnik, who turns 32 next month, is the Sabres blueline workhorse, coming off a strong season in which he finished 11th in the NHL in averaging more than 25 minutes of ice time a game. The only drawback was Zhitnik managed just four goals and 24 assists for 28 points in 68 games.

It marked only the third time in 11 seasons in which Zhitnik played in 35 or more games that he failed to reach 30 points.

Zhitnik believes he can play for another four or five seasons, and hopes the next contract he signs is his last one.

As for the labor dispute, Zhitnik declined to take sides, instead saying that owners and players need to find a compromise.

“It’s tough to say who’s totally right, who’s totally wrong. I think each side has to give up a little bit,” Zhitnik said. “It could be a long time, it could be a couple of months. The people who are negotiating have to work harder.”

AP-ES-09-17-04 1424EDT