Slava Voynov will return to Russia to resolve the issue of his visa after he got into legal trouble for committing domestic violence, he announced on Wednesday. Returning to his home country will end his contract with the Los Angeles Kings, which called for him to be paid just over $16 million over the next four years.
“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 issued by his agent, per the OC Register. “I sincerely apologize to those in and around the game of hockey, who have been affected by my situation, and I also wish the players of the L.A. Kings success in the future.”
Voynov was arrested last year after being accused of hitting, pushing and kicking his wife after a Halloween party. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of spousal abuse and had been detained immigration officers. Voynov’s visa was in jeopardy at that point, so he decided to resolve matters by leaving the country.
The Kings issued a statement Wednesday and said that they were not going to let Voynov play for them again regardless of his decision:
“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. 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 2015-16 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.
“As we have publicly stated 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.”
Even though the Kings will no longer be responsible for paying out the remainder of the contract, the Kings retain Voynov’s NHL rights in case he ever attempts to obtain a work visa in the future.
