SHEFFIELD, England — As a forward with the Carolina Hurricanes in the N.H.L., Anthony Stewart earned $800,000 last season. But in his temporary job playing for the Nottingham Panthers in Britain’s Elite League, he is making, basically, nothing.

“It’s not necessarily about the money,” said Stewart, who is staying for now in a $97-a-night Nottingham hotel conveniently located, its Web site notes, near the bus station and a local Hooters. “I’ve been sitting around the last two weeks doing informal skates on my own, and it’s good to just get out on the ice and get some full-blown game action.”

Put out of work by the N.H.L. owners’ lockout, now in its third week, some 75 N.H.L. players have signed or agreed to sign temporary contracts with well-known teams across Europe, in places like Russia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Stewart is the only player so far to sign with the Elite League, a league so obscure in this soccer-, cricket- and rugby-preferring nation that many Britons do not even know it exists.