Slava Voynov has formally applied to the NHL to be reinstated.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said on Thursday that the league will now decide whether to permit the former Los Angeles Kings defenseman to return.
"We’re in (the) process of an intense factual investigation," Daly said, according to The Fourth Period's Dennis Bernstein. "I’m not in a position to give (a) timeline. When (the) investigation is done, (the) commissioner (Gary Bettman) will deal with his application for reinstatement."
The investigation will include witnesses, and Bettman has the right to issue a further suspension upon its conclusion, according to Sportsnet.
Voynov was arrested in fall 2014, and a police report said he punched, kicked and choked his wife, Marta Varlamova. He was convicted on a misdemeanor domestic abuse charge in 2015, and then sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of corporal injury to a spouse.
The Kings terminated his contract shortly thereafter, and Voynov left for Russia in September 2015. He's been playing for SKA St. Petersburg in the KHL ever since.
A judge dismissed his conviction in July, opening the door for NHL reinstatement.
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