Report: Visnovsky plans to keep playing in Slovakia

As NHL players head back from Europe, one player is planning to stay put..

New York Islanders defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky said he plans to stay in his native Slovakia with Slovan Bratislava of the Kontinental Hockey League, Newsday reported.

One issue: The NHL and the KHL have an agreement to honor each other's contracts.

"I have decided to stay and continue my career in the KHL for the remainder of the 2012-13 season," Visnovsky said in a statement issued by his agent, Neil Sheehy. "I am thankful to the Isles for being so good to me. My decision not to play in the NHL is due to family and personal reasons.

"I have made no decisions on next season. My focus now is on Slovan Bratislava, and enjoying my family in my home country."

Visnovsky, 36, had joined Slovan shortly after the lockout began. He leads the team's defensemen with 14 points in 31 games.

He had played junior hockey in Bratislava and went there during the 2004-05 lockout.

Visnovsky, who's in the final year of his contract, had filed a grievance after he was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, saying his no-trade clause should have been in effect. even though he had accepted an earlier trade from the Edmonton Oilers. An arbtirator ruled in favor of the Islanders.

Sheehy said Visnovsky isn't singling out the Islanders with his KHL decision.

"The situation would have been the same with any NHL team," Sheehy told the newspaper.