The Los Angeles Kings released a powerful statement on Wednesday regarding the end of the NHL career of defenseman Slava Voynov.
The announcement came just hours after the controversial player announced through his agent that he would willingly return to Russia via self-deportation.
"Earlier today, I notified the National Hockey League, the National Hockey League Players' Association and the Los Angeles Kings of my decision to immediately begin the formal process of returning to Russia with my family," Voynov said in a statement through his agent, Rolland Hedges. "I sincerely apologize to those in and around the game of hockey, who have been affected by my situation, and I also with the Players of the LA Kings success in the future."
A few hours later, the Kings released their own statement letting the public know that they do not condone domestic violence, and that Voynov would have no longer been a member of the LA Kings on Thursday, Sept. 17 regardless of his decision today.
"On July 2, Slava Voynov entered a plea of no contest to domestic violence. Since that development, Mr. Voynov has been in the custody of the Seal Beach Detention Center and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. During this period of detention, the Los Angeles Kings decided he would no longer play for the team," read the statement.
"The method by which we would ensure this outcome was something we carefully considered and we established a deadline of September 17 – the beginning of our 2015-2016 training camp – to reach this outcome. Recently it became evident to us that our conclusion to this process would be to terminate Mr. Voynov's Standard Player's Contract. However, Mr. Voynov's announcement today of his intention to leave the United States and return to Russia makes the termination unnecessary."
The Kings went on to write that they never have and never will condone domestic violence:
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"As we have publicly state since Mr. Voynov's arrest last year, the Kings organization will not tolerate domestic violence. As part of that commitment, we will soon announce a series of new Conduct Awareness Training Initiatives that reflect the values and principles central to our franchise."
Voynov was initially arrested and charged with felony domestic violence after a fight with his wife, Marta Varlamova, last October. Voynov pleaded no contest to the charges in July of this year and accepted a plea deal, spending two months in jail before he was released and detained by federal immigration officials two weeks ago.
Voynov's decision to leave the United States and return to Russia will clear much-needed cap space for the Kings to sign more free agents. Additionally, once a decision comes down on Mike Richards, the Kings could free up as much as $5.6 million in cap space before the start of the season.
Voynov played for Russia in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and is a two-time winner of the Stanley Cup with the Kings in 2012 (his rookie season) and again in 2014. He was the No. 2 defenseman on the team and widely considered one of the top defensemen in the league.
