If former Kings defenseman Slava Voynov, who was suspended from the NHL following his 2014 domestic violence arrest, is ever to return to the league, his road back must pass through NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

Voynov, who went to jail for almost two months after pleading no contest to corporal injury against a spouse, has made clear his intention for reinstatement to the NHL, but he will need to undergo several steps before the league even entertains that possibility. And, ultimately, it will be Bettman’s call.

And while sources confirmed to The Athletic that multiple NHL teams have shown interest in the 28-year-old Voynov, there are several items for those clubs to consider.

Practically speaking, there are legal and immigration issues that remain unresolved. Voynov, after serving jail time, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and rather than attend immigration proceedings, chose instead to return to Russia, where he spent the next three seasons playing for the KHL’s St. Petersburg’s SKA. He is now petitioning the Los Angeles Superior Court to dismiss his domestic violence charges and is slated to have a hearing on the matter July 2. Nothing happens unless the court rules in his favor, and all parties involved are reticent to speak publicly about the matter until that happens. Voynov’s attorney did not respond to messages left at her office and via email.

But even if the court does dismiss those charges, Voynov remains suspended under the ban that was levied swiftly and decisively by the NHL after the league learned of his arrest in October 2014, when Redondo Beach Police Department officers apprehended Voynov following an altercation between him and his wife, Marta Varlamova.

According to NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly, Voynov’s current status is that he remains suspended and is not eligible to play in the NHL. And though sources told The Athletic that a meeting already took place between Voynov, the NHL and his agent in late May to discuss a path to return to the NHL, his current eligibility would not change until he sits down with Bettman for a formal hearing. (Voynov’s agent, Rolland Hedges, declined to comment when reached by phone Tuesday but acknowledged his client would like to return to the NHL).

“Before his suspension could be lifted, he would have to participate in a proceeding before the Commissioner pursuant to which the terms/parameters of his suspension and ultimate return to play would be clarified and confirmed,” Daly told The Athletic via email.

Even then, it would be difficult to surmise what factors will be taken into consideration when that hearing occurs, given the NHL still has not heard from Voynov about his side of the events. At the time of the incident, the league was unable to conduct a meaningful investigation because of Voynov’s ongoing legal issues. Voynov and his wife, through their representatives, contend that the incident was an accident.

Daly told reporters at Wednesday’s Board of Governors meetings that the NHL would essentially be starting from “ground zero,” given what they know now about the incident itself and “what’s transpired since.”

Even if Bettman decides in Voynov’s favor during this potential hearing, there is the very real likelihood that there will be an additional suspension for him to serve before he is allowed to play. Voynov will have NHLPA representation in any such proceedings and will have the right to appeal any decisions regarding discipline, as is consistent with the terms of the current collective bargaining agreement. The NHLPA is expected to vigorously defend Voynov’s right to a second chance and will likely remind the league that he has already served time in an ICE detention facility, fulfilled all the terms of his probation, including extensive counseling and community service, and by doing so, had paid his debt to society.

There is also the issue of his rights. The Kings terminated his six-year $25 million contract but still retain his rights because Voynov remains on the team’s voluntary retirement list and has not sat out one full season. When asked whether the Kings would consider bringing him back, general manager Rob Blake indicated that it is still too early to predict what will happen.

“Yeah, that’s, I think, a little premature,” Blake told reporters this week. “I think what we’re reading in the papers and the steps that he has taken with the league and the appropriate action after that. Right now he’s a suspended player, and until anything changes there, I don’t think we’re in a position to comment any further. A lot of it has to take place between him, his agent and the National Hockey League.”

Sources indicated that the Kings trading Voynov’s rights is likely the most plausible scenario.

And those are just the logistical items to ponder. Because for any NHL team considering the possibility of pursuing Voynov, there are a few other vital details it must consider as well.

Slay Voynov’s mug shot from the Redondo Beach Police Department (left) and him in action in Russia, where he’s played the last three years. (Russia photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)

Those clubs must remember that, according to the police report obtained by The Athletic, Voynov and Varlamova got into an argument that turned physical, and the details are grotesque. A statement included within that report states that, while attending a team Halloween party, the two began arguing, during which Voynov removed [Varlamova’s] costume glasses and stomped on them in front of the guests. When they continued arguing outside the venue, Voynov “punched her in the left jaw with a closed fist.”

Court documents detail how the fight continued when the two arrived home and the contents are equally grim. In one motion, filed on behalf of the District Attorney’s office, it states that Voynov “wrapped both of his hands around Ms. Varlamova’s neck and began to squeeze, making it difficult for her to breathe.” Voynov, according to the motion, “continued to choke her while repeatedly pushing her to the floor of the bedroom,” telling her to “get out,” that there would be “no more money for her,” and that she would be “gone.”

These clubs should also know that Varlamova’s seven-year-old daughter was reportedly at home at the time of the incident, and apparently, it did not end there.

According to the motion, Voynov then “kicked her five or six times all over her body” and when she attempted to stand he “pushed her down directly into the bottom corner of the flat screen television that was mounted to the bedroom wall.” Varlamova sustained “a head laceration that resulted in severe bleeding” and throughout all of this “she repeatedly screamed for him to stop.”

If the clubs were not previously aware, they should know that the screaming was apparently so loud that a neighbor called emergency dispatchers, fearful of what was taking place.

According to the 911 transcripts obtained by The Athletic, the concerned neighbor said she heard 20 minutes worth of screaming and said there were “terrible noises.”

“It sounds like a woman is not being treated well,” the neighbor told the dispatcher.

In the middle of describing the location of the house to the dispatcher, the neighbor stops to say: “Oh my God. She’s really screaming.”

Any club considering trading for or signing Voynov should also consider that Varlamova, once she arrived at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center hospital for treatment, required eight sutures to close the 3 cm laceration on her left eyebrow. She then reportedly told those attending to her injuries that this was not an isolated incident.

Statements from a registered nurse and a police officer revealed that Varlamova said this sort of incident had happened before. Less than 10 minutes after Varlamova arrived at the hospital, she was taken to triage, where she told a registered nurse that this was “not the first time this had happened,” according to witness testimony, which was admitted into the court record. That nurse immediately noted “abuse indicators” and that “the victim did not feel she was treated well by her spouse, that she had been threatened or abused, physically, emotionally or sexually by her spouse, and that she felt unsafe to going back to the place where she lives.”

Those documents also note that when a police officer arrived to speak with her, Varlamova told him that her husband “was very aggressive and had done this in the past”

When asked what led to the argument with her husband, Varlamova responded:

“He’s very aggressive every time. He gets tired. He gets aggressive every time.

“And it’s not first time.”

According to the transcript of the police interview, the exchange ended with Varlamova telling the officer:

“Please help me [crying]. Please at first and after this, I speak about all of this. Please help me, please.”

Varlamova repeatedly refused to testify in the case against her husband and, according to court documents, tried to evade the service of a subpoena. Eventually, the District Attorney Bureau of Investigations-Major Crimes Unit was forced to “conduct extensive surveillance” before finally tracking down both Voynov and Varlamova to a location in Marina Del Ray, where they were finally served.

But, according to court documents, the District Attorney’s office continued forward with the case and asked that Varlamova’s refusal to testify be allowed to be considered by a jury “just as any other valid piece of evidence would be.” Following Voynov’s no contest plea, Assistant District Attorney Frank Dunnick would not say whether Varlamova’s silence played a part in the plea deal, but he indicated that it was not uncommon for victims to be reluctant to testify against their abusers in domestic violence cases.

Witnesses were, however, allowed to testify about statements she had made during her medical treatment.

Redondo Beach police officer Gregory Wiist testified at a preliminary hearing about the ghastly scene he had discovered at the couple’s home, where he had found a bloody comforter, a bloody handprint and blood on the floor.

“She was crying, sobbing,” Wiist said of Varlamova at the hospital after the incident. “I saw tears streaming down her face. She was an emotional wreck.”

Did Voynov fulfill his legal obligations? Yes, he did. He subsequently returned home to Russia and resumed his hockey playing career and, though he was not free to play in the NHL and also blocked from playing in the 2016 World Cup, he was free to earn a living and also participate in the Olympics for the Olympic Athletes of Russia this past winter in Pyeongchang.

Varlamova and Voynov remain married and have children, a fact that will not go overlooked by any team. Nor should the fact that it is not uncommon for domestic violence victims to stay in a relationship with their abusers. Nor should the fact that her choice to stay does not mean what was alleged to have happened in 2014 is nullified.

A team must also consider what sort of message signing Voynov will send to its fans. Perhaps some will interpret that message to mean people deserve a second chance. Some may interpret the message to mean that what allegedly happened in 2014 can be overlooked, if only for a needed right-handed shot and an upgrade to the team’s blueline.

Others will interpret this as a message that domestic violence can, in some way, be normalized and, ultimately, accepted.

For NHL teams interested in pursuing Voynov, there is a lot to consider.

Lisa Dillman and Josh Cooper contributed to this report

(Top photo by Nam Y. Huh/AP)