Monday: Russian news outlet Sport-Express reports that there is interest in five NHL teams, listing the Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets as Voynov’s preferred landing spots. The Los Angeles Kings are not interesting in bringing Voynov back, which, as explained below, complicates his potential return.
Sunday: The elimination of SKA St. Petersburg earlier in the KHL playoffs brought an end to defenseman Slava Voynov’s contract in the KHL, paving the way for him to seek reinstatement to the NHL which he is expected to pursue in the coming months. Voynov has been suspended from the NHL indefinitely after he faced domestic violence charges back in October of 2014.
The 28-year-old last suited up with Los Angeles and while his original contract was terminated at the time of his departure, the Kings still hold his rights. Team president Luc Robitaille told Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider that there have been no discussions on him possibly rejoining the team as the league would first have to rule him as eligible to play.
Despite recent reports that Voynov is seeking a return, there is nothing clear about his current status. It’s out of our hands. It’s between the league and Slava and his agent. If and when something happens, we’ll discuss it then.”
GM Rob Blake acknowledged that he has received phone calls from teams seeking clarification regarding Voynov’s situation but not necessarily to inquire as to whether or not they would trade his rights.
Voynov played in 39 KHL games this past season, recording 23 points while contributing six more in six Olympic contests. If he is able to get reinstated by the NHL (which would require a hearing with Commissioner Gary Bettman), he would give the Kings another top-four option on their back end or a trade asset if they decide to flip him elsewhere. With Los Angeles already having more than $70MM in contracts committed for 2018-19, the latter option may be the more likely scenario although given how he originally left, the interest elsewhere may not be as robust as it otherwise could have been.
Leave this POS out of the league
If he comes back(and that’s still murky despite the reports), you’d have to assume he’s getting some form of punishment from the NHL and rightfully so. I don’t know how much legit interest there is(Russian sources are spotty at best) and any team in potential trade talks have to expect him to be unavailable for at least 15-20 games, if not longer(based on other suspensions in other sports).
Depending on his potential reinstatement, suspension, etc…. once all of those things are sorted out, IF the suspension isn’t extraordinarily severe, from a pure hockey standpoint…. the kings might be better served holding on to Voynov. It gives them another quality defenseman if they want to trade one of their top their defensemen (Doughty, Muzzin, Martinez) in order to address their more pressing needs on offense. Not sure trading the rights to Voynov would net much of a return.
Well heres something we agree on. Voynov wont have any trade value at all. Keep him and trade a different D man. Not to mention he would be the Kings 2nd best D after 8
Finally! We got something!!! 2018 could be our season! Haha
How about he doesn’t get to come back and the league has some integrity?
Agreed
Voynov deserves a suspension if he comes back. But to act like he should get 0 chance at playing again is not fair. Give him a punishment and let him serve it
He choked, kicked, and punched his /girlfriend/wife. People like this don’t deserve second chances
And she’s still with him to this day. No one really knows all the facts. If theres a graphic video of it like that minor league baseball player then maybe they can suspend him for life. But right now theres not enough evidence to do that since there was never a trial
So he isn’t allowed to make a living? Does this apply to all domestic abusers? What do we do with them after they have served the penalty society gives them? Does this apply to all criminals and ex cons?
Didn’t seem to be a problem for Zeke, Chapman, Jose Reyes, Ruben Foster, Joe Mixon the list goes on. Voynov is no different than those guys
The NHL doesn’t need to do something because the other leagues did. They can step up and show they won’t accept this kind of disgusting behaviour
Because the NHLPA would really allow that