When the Blue Jackets depart today for a season-high five-game trip that begins Thursday at Dallas, rookie left winger Nikita Filatov will be headed, in so many ways, in the opposite direction.

Unable to gain the trust of coach Ken Hitchcock and earn significant ice time, Filatov began pushing this month for a return to his native Russia, where he can play more and be a goal-scoring star.

The Blue Jackets granted Filatov's wish yesterday, agreeing to loan him to CSKA Moscow of the Continental Hockey League for the remainder of the season. Filatov and the Blue Jackets say that he will return to Columbus next September for training camp, but there are no guarantees.

"It has been frustrating to not play. But what's happened has happened, and it cannot be changed for this season," Filatov said. "I'm not mad at anybody here. Nothing has changed. It is still my dream to play in the NHL. There's no reason to think I won't be back in the NHL."

A season that began with Rookie of the Year hopes -- not from within the Blue Jackets, perhaps, but from many NHL observers -- ended before even one-fourth of the season was played.

Filatov, a healthy scratch in six of the Blue Jackets' 19 games, had two goals and barely averaged eight minutes of playing time, less than all but two players on the roster.

"Everybody had high expectations for him," general manager Scott Howson said. "I still have high expectations for him.It's not happening for him as soon as we'd hoped, but that's OK. He's 19 years old."

Howson said he had no plans to trade Filatov, and -- as of yesterday afternoon -- he had received no offers from other NHL teams.

Filatov will fly home today and play his first game back in Russia on Saturday.

"Nikita's intention, from the start of the season, was not to be packing up and going home," Howson said. "He had a certain level of frustration, because he hasn't been able to meet the level of expectations.

"He's a dynamic offensive talent. He's just not able to play that role yet in the NHL."

The Blue Jackets never asked Filatov if he would consider going to minor-league Syracuse, Howson said, because he has made it clear all along that another season with the Crunch was not an option. He played 39 games in Syracuse last season, recording 16 goals and 32 points, and was clearly ready for another challenge.

"It was pretty clear," Howson said, "that if he couldn't play in the NHL, he wanted to play in (Russia)."

Howson has been in Filatov's corner since he drafted him with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft. Last spring, he recalled Filatov from Syracuse to experience the Blue Jackets' first appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Hitchcock, meanwhile, has a long reputation for being especially demanding toward young players. At no point, Howson said, did the situation cause a rift between him and Hitchcock or between the hockey operations department and the coaching staff.

"Not at all," Howson said. "I support the coach and how he handles the team. I make suggestions to him, just as he makes suggestions to me. My job is to put the players together, and he coaches them. And Hitch is a very successful coach."

By playing 13 games this season, Filatov has burned the first year of his entry-level contract. His base salary was $875,000, but with incentives, it could have gone as high as $2.2 million. The Blue Jackets do not have to continue paying him while he's in Russia, where he is expected to earn about $1 million. His current contract now expires after the 2011-12 season.

The Blue Jackets will keep his rights through at least the 2016-17 season.

"With another year of maturity and strength, and a really good offseason, Nikita should be ready to expand his horizons in the NHL," Hitchcock said.

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