Artemi Panarin vows he will address the accusations against him

Since his return from a leave of absence from the New York Rangers, Artemi Panarin has done all his talking on the ice. In the two games since his return, the Russian has a goal and three assists for four points. However, many are still wondering if he will address the accusations against him that caused him to take a leave from his team for close to a month. Panarin is now promising that he will.

"This is probably not the time to address it right now. I have nothing to hide. I will address everything after the season, but right now the focus is on the game," Panarin told Vince Mercogliano of USA Today following a 5-4 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers Monday night.

The accusations come from former NHLer and Panarin's former coach in the KHL Andrei Nazarov. Nazarov claims Panarin got into an altercation with an 18-year-old girl at a bar in Latvia back in 2011 and beat her up. Nazarov went on to claim that local police had to be bribed to keep the incident under wraps.

Not one other person has come forward to corroborate Nazarov's claims and, in fact, several of Panarin's former KHL teammates have disputed Nazarov's story, including one person who was with Panarin on the night in question. Despite that, Nazarov has stuck by his claims.

Even Russian media has all but dismissed Nazarov's claims, although many have insisted he is working alone and not taking direction from the Russian government. There was some concern for Panarin after he spoke out a few times against Russian President Vladimir Putin and showed support to his political foe Alexei Navalny. Panarin's leave of absence from the Rangers seemed to be about ensuring his family still living is Russia is safe.

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