It looks like the Rangers have their star winger back.
Artemi Panarin, last year's Hart Trophy finalist, has been away from the team for the past two weeks after a story from Russia with assault allegations led to a leave of absence, but Rangers twitter may have provided a long-awaited update in the form of a video.
The video, captioned with "Privet Breadman," which translates to "Hello Breadman," shows Panarin taking the ice with the Rangers for a team practice ahead of Thursday night's game against the Bruins.
Panarin took his leave of absence on Feb. 22, shortly after a story out of Russia accused the 29-year-old of assaulting an 18-year-old woman in Latvia back in 2011. The story, which used Panarin's former head coach as a source, was heavily refuted by the Rangers in a statement of support for Panarin.
The story also shortly followed Panarin's outward support for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Instagram post. Panarin's former coach, Andrei Nazarov, has criticized Panarin's political stance regarding Russian president Vladimir Putin in the past.
The Rangers and head coach David Quinn had given no update on Panarin's status in the weeks that have passed since he took his leave of absence, but it seems like Rangers twitter has now provided one, though it will still likely be a couple of games before he's back in game action.
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