Star NHL trio Pavel Datsyuk, Mikhail Grabovski and Ilya Bryzgalov are to join CSKA Moscow for the lockout, a source at the KHL team told R-Sport on Wednesday.

The three are expected to sign contracts in the very near future, the source said without elaborating.

Detroit Red Wings forward Datsyuk, 34, had been heavily linked with Ak Bars Kazan, where he played before moving to North America in 2000, but the team was hesitant to sign players who could bolt at any time.

The two-time Stanley Cup winner spent his whole NHL career in Detroit notching up 812 points in 858 games.

Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Bryzgalov, 32, left his hometown team Lada Togliatti in 2001 to join the Anaheim Ducks. He also played for the Phoenix Coyotes making a total of 423 NHL appearances.

Both Datsyuk and Bryzgalov won the World Championships with the Russian national team.

Belarusian forward Grabovski represents the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he spent the last four seasons after two years with the Montreal Canadiens.

The 28 year old played for Russian teams Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk and Dynamo Moscow before moving to North America in 2006.

The deadline for averting a lockout passed Saturday after the NHL and the players’ association failed to agree terms on a new collective contract.

It sparked a flurry of signings, the highest-profile of which include Evgeni Malkin's return to Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Alex Ovechkin’s to Dynamo Moscow.