All right, we're following a developing story surrounding one of the NHL's top players.

Rangers star Artemi Panarin has taken a leave of absence from the team after a newspaper

in his native Russia published a story alleging Panarin physically assaulted an 18-year-old

woman back in 2011.

The accusation came from one of Panarin's former coaches in Russia,

but the Rangers, in confirming Panarin's leave,

suggested the stories politically motivated.

Panarin is one of the few top Russian athletes

to be openly against President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

It's a story that's shaken up the hockey world with shockwaves, felt from Manhattan to Moscow.

Here in America, Artemmy Panarin is a star winger, an MVP candidate, the best player on the New York Rangers.

But back home in Russia, the 29-year-old is something far more dangerous, the most vocal

athlete opponent of Vladimir Putin. Today, Emily Kaplan explains the explosive accusations

that have sidelined Panarin from the National

Hockey League.

And then the Washington Post's Moscow correspondent, Isabel Kershudian, gives us the view from

inside Russia and tells us what might really be going on.

I'm Pablo Torre. It's Thursday, February 25th.

This is ESPN Daily.

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