A former prospect of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, Artem Ivanyuzhenkov, has been charged with the stabbing death of a 23-year-old man over the weekend in the city of Podolsk. According to eyewitnesses, Ivanyuzhenkov was celebrating his birthday with friends at the time of the incident, but he denies any involvement.
The 24-year-old had signed a contract with the Sharks organization in the 2019-2020 season but only played in two AHL games before spending the rest of the year in the ECHL. After that, he left North America for good.
This is not the first time Ivanyuzhenkov has faced accusations of wrongdoing. In 2020, he was involved in a fatal accident that killed a cyclist in the Moscow area. However, his father, Boris Ivanyuzhenkov, the Deputy Speaker of the Russian Parliament and former Minister of Sports from 2006-2021 has been accused of using his influence to protect his son.