Blue Jackets prospect Nikita Filatov regrets some of the comments he made after leaving the club a month ago, while saying that others were taken out of context.

But the 19-year-old winger, who went home to Russia unhappy after being unable to earn substantial ice time under coach Ken Hitchcock, stands by one of his primary reasons for departing.

"I got my own opinion about Hitch and about what I think he thinks of me," Filatov wrote in an e-mail to T he Dispatch. "I am not going to let everybody know about it. I think it's pretty clear that he didn't give (me) a chance and opportunity to prove that I can play."

Filatov returns to North America next week to represent Russia for the second straight year in the world junior championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson will attend several tournament games and visit with Filatov, who many believe is the best prospect not playing in the NHL.

Howson acknowledged that Filatov and the Jackets might need to mend relations before the player could return to the team. Howson said he does not intend to trade Filatov, who is on loan to CSKA Moscow of the Continental Hockey League for the rest of the season. Of course, much can change between now and the March 3 trade deadline.

"He's a young, proud, passionate person, and he's trying to sort through everything that has happened to him the last two or three months," Howson said.

The Jackets have lost 13 of 15 games and are struggling to find their equilibrium, while Filatov is excelling for CSKA Moscow. He has five goals and nine assists in 12 games and is averaging more than 17 minutes in a league regarded as second best in the world, behind the NHL.

Filatov averaged barely eight minutes in 13 games with the Jackets, contributing two goals before asking Howson to facilitate his return to his former club.

Some think that Filatov abandoned the franchise at the first sign of adversity. Others view the events as an indictment of an unyielding coach who doesn't believe that young, smaller, skilled European players have a place in his checking system.

Hitchcock chose his words carefully when asked for a response to Filatov's remarks.

"As coaches, we were really hoping he would have hung in there so he could have learned what it took to play in the NHL," Hitchcock said. "Our thoughts were that he would get better with time and survive his first year in the league and improve."

Several Jackets players were not as measured in their comments.

Center Derick Brassard, who tried to persuade Filatov to stay, was irked by an interview by a Russian journalist in which Filatov said that at least two KHL teams, including his, could beat the Jackets.

"I don't really understand that, and if I talk to him, I'm going to be sure to tell him what I think," Brassard said. "You can't say that stuff. It was a great decision for him to go and play a lot. But when you are gone, you are gone. Don't say you will beat us. Does he think we are a bad team, or what?

"He is a great guy, and I like him a lot, but that comes with age. He wants to play in the NHL, and he couldn't this year."

Brassard made his comments before the Jackets' five-game losing streak.

Forward R.J. Umberger did not appreciate that Filatov insinuated in the same interview that he was singled out by Hitchcock in practice.

"If anyone makes a mistake, Hitch brings guys together," Umberger said. "He doesn't single out players. He talks in generalities even though everyone knows who did it. Hitch doesn't do those things. It's all about teaching and learning."

Filatov said his description of the on-ice teaching moments was misleading. "I agree with R.J.," he wrote.

Filatov added that he and the Russian reporter did not do a good job conveying his thoughts about what might happen if CSKA Moscow and the Jackets played.

"That was my bad," he wrote. "Also journalist didn't get it (the) right way. I wanted to say that when two teams are playing, any of those teams can win, have a chance at least. I didn't mean the Jackets are weak or worse, not at all."

The Jackets retain Filatov's rights through the 2016-17 season, although the NHL and KHL have no agreement honoring each other's contracts. Howson remains confident that Filatov wants to star in the NHL.

Filatov said, "I hope I will be back soon," but he offered no plan other than that he's eager to play in the world juniors. Playing in the tournament might have been a concern if he were still with the Jackets. Now, it's not.

"Very excited," Filatov wrote. "I had a good (world juniors) last year. Now, going to have a great one."

treed@dispatch.com