Artemi Panarin returned to Rangers practice on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he took a personal leave of absence from the team.
Panarin took an indefinite leave on Feb. 22 after his former Kontinental Hockey League coach, Andrei Nazarov, told a Russian newspaper that Panarin got into a physical altercation with a woman in Latvia 10 years ago.
The Rangers offered steadfast support for Panarin, a runner up for league MVP last season. In a statement, the team said Panarin was “shaken and concerned” by the allegations and called Nazarov’s claims “clearly an intimidation tactic being used against [Panarin] for being outspoken on recent political events.”
Panarin has recently been critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the economic climate in his native country.
The KHL told ESPN it had “not been aware of or received a complaint in relation to any incident involving Artemi Panarin in December 2011.” The league said it would have investigated any complaint.
The NHL was monitoring the situation, but since there has been no corroborating evidence to Nazarov’s claim, the league hasn’t taken action.
ESPN spoke with two of Panarin’s teammates from the 2011 Vityaz team, who both said they didn’t recall any incident with Panarin like the one Nazarov described.