Indefinitely suspended Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov has been officially charged with one felony count of corporal injury to spouse "with great bodily injury", according to Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times.
Voynov had been awaiting word as to whether or not he would face charges since his October 19th arrest on suspicion of domestic violence in connection with an alleged attack on his girlfriend, Marta Varlamova, that left her with injuries to her eyebrow, cheek and neck.
Voynov, and his lawyer, Craig Renetzky, have vehemently maintained his innocence since the incident. Renetzky even went so far as to claim that "it's clear to me there was no crime here," according to The Hockey News.
Today, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office circulated a press release announcing their decision to charge Voynov.
Voynov 's arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 1. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of nine years in prison.
The league acted swiftly in initially suspending Voynov, announcing within hours of his arrest that he would be suspended without pay until a resolution to his case came, according to ESPN.
In his absence, the Kings have suffered serious cap issues. The presence of Voynov's $4.2 million salary (per Capgeek.com) on the books and the lack of his presence on the ice has hamstrung them to an extent and prevented them from making moves after suffering injuries.
They were even unable to ice a full complement of players at one point this season.
Voynov's girlfriend said that she did not want him to be charged, according to a report from Helene Elliott of The Los Angeles Times last month.
