One of the stranger stories of the last few years for the LA Kings was the ignominious exit of defenceman Slava Voynov.
In 2014, Voynov was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge against his wife Maria Varlamova. Despite Varlamova's belated pleas on her husband's behalf, he received a 90-day jail sentence and three years probation. His hockey career was derailed as he was suspended indefinitely midseason, a suspension which was later changed to an 82-game stint by an arbitrator. Rather than deal with the legal ramifications and the possibility of being deported, Voynov returned to Russia and the Kings terminated his contract.
Since then, the two-time Stanley Cup winner added KHL's trophy, the Gagarin Cup to his resume in 2017. His name was recently brought up by team president Luc Robitaille.
Speaking to Sport-Express, Robitaille was very candid about Voynov's past. "Everyone knows the kind of player he was," said Robitaille. "He paid for his mistake, and paid a heavy price. I know that he is considering a return (Voynov, 30, is currently playing in the KHL with Avangard Omsk, with 39 points in 52 games this year) to the NHL, and I hope it works out for him. I know that he's still with his wife and they've had [two] wonderful children since then. He turned his life around and became a guy who deserves another chance."
Robitaille added that it was the Kings who released an ambiguous statement after an arbitrator ended up giving Voynov credit for time served (41 games) and would essentially continue for another 41 should he re-sign in the NHL. When asked why the Kings, the club with which Voynov spent his brief NHL career and was an integral part of two Cup runs are not the team for him, Robitaille spoke more cautiously.
"We already told the league that we won't put up any roadblocks to Slava's potential NHL return, if he gets his personal life together," said Robitaille. "But it shouldn't be with us. Too many conversations and discussions took place back then. We treated him well. We continue to say that we want him to come back to the NHL. He's paid his debt."
Source:Sport Express
