Slava Voynov announces he'll leave Kings, return to Russia
The lawyer for Slava Voynov released a statement on behalf of his client Wednesday, announcing the Los Angeles Kings defenseman will leave the hockey club and return to Russia.
Full statement from Rolland Hedges, Voynov's lawyer: pic.twitter.com/qXHZS5f4Tu
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) September 16, 2015
The Kings originally planned to terminate Voynov's contract before Wednesday's announcement, with the club eyeing the opening of training camp as an internal deadline for a decision on his status.
"The method by which we would ensure this outcome was something we carefully considered and we established a deadline of Sept. 17 - the beginning of our 2015-16 training camp - to reach this outcome," the team said in a statement.
"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 determined he would no longer play for the club while he was detained.
General manager Dean Lombardi pledged that the Kings organization would learn from the Voynov situation.
Lombardi con't: ``Like anythhing else, we're going to get better from this as an organization, I'm convinced.''
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) September 17, 2015
Lombardi also called himself ``negligent'' in this area (off-ice conduct) and says ``we're going to fix that going forward.''
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) September 17, 2015
Voynov had four years and $19.25 million remaining on his contract, and the Kings are no longer required to honor the remainder of the deal, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.
Voynov served three months in prison on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. Upon being released, he was placed in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It was reported last week that U.S. immigration authorities sought to deport the Russian, who pleaded no contest to the charge in July.
He was suspended by the NHL with pay following his arrest in October 2014. The Kings suspended him in June after he suffered an Achilles injury during non-hockey activities.