A prolonged absence from New York Islanders prospect and current Moncton Wildcat forward Kirill Kabanov has fueled speculation that the enigmatic hockey star isn’t returning to North America.

Kabanov left for Russia over a week ago to attend to a personal emergency, speculated as a death in the family. He’s yet to come back to the club and the Wildcats have indicated there is no timetable for his return to Moncton.

He was initially expected to return to the team last week.

In two games this season, Kabanov is pointless with six penalty minutes. He notched 10 goals and 23 points in his highly publicized season with the Wildcats last year.

Originally projected to be a top-5 pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Kabanov was eventually selected in the third round by the New York Islanders.

With files from Kevin Forbes

Aaron Vickers is the managing editor of Future Considerations and can be found on Twitter. For all the latest Future Considerations news and posts, follow FC’s Official Twitter Feed, on YouTube and on Facebook!