Former NHL player Mike Danton, who was imprisoned in 2004 for trying to arrange a killing, was granted full parole Friday after a revelation that drew skepticism from those who've followed his bizarre case.

Former NHL forward Mike Danton, seen in a 2004 jail photo, may still be under the psychological grip of his former coach, one observer says. (Clinton County Jail/Canadian Press)

Danton said that the target of the failed murder-for-hire plot was his father Steve Jefferson, and not agent David Frost.

Following its hearing in Kingston, Ont., the National Parole Board said the former player is not considered a risk to the community.

"After a lengthy hearing with two board members of the National Parole Board, full parole was granted for [the] offender," board spokesperson Carol Sparling said.

Danton will be released somewhere in Canada, although it's not immediately clear where. The board didn't release details of his psychological assessment.

Danton legally changed his surname from Jefferson in 2002. Just over two years later, the Brampton, Ont., native pleaded guilty in the U.S. in a failed murder-for-hire plot that was alleged to have targeted Frost, his former minor hockey coach. He was sentenced to 7½ years in prison and was transferred to a Canadian penitentiary earlier this year.

The target of his plot was not named in the agreed facts when he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder.

Bob McKeown, who has covered the case extensively for CBC's The Fifth Estate, does not believe the new claim. The program found witnesses who alleged Danton showed pictures of Frost to a potential hitman.

"He arranged to have him kill the person that was at his apartment on this particular night," McKeown said.

"The person at the apartment was David Frost."

Frost was acquitted in 2008 of sexual exploitation charges involving two of his young players when he coached the junior A Quinte Hawks, Danton's old team, in Deseronto, Ont.

Steve and Sue Jefferson, Danton's parents, have accused Frost of cultivating a Svengali-like grasp on Danton and also alleged that their other son, Tom, was a hazing victim on a cottage trip with Frost as ringleader.

"It's very clear from their relationship that David Frost has had an inordinate amount of control since Mike Danton was 10 years old," McKeown said. "This [new claim may] simply be the latest example of that."

The Fifth Estate obtained transcripts of some of the dozens of telephone conversations between Danton and Frost after the player was arrested. The agent can be heard extensively coaching Danton on what to say to lawyers and counsellors.

Danton told the parole board he hasn't talked to his father since he was about 15, and admitted to tearing up and sending back the letters his parents wrote to him in prison.

As conditions of his release, Danton is to have no direct or indirect contact with Steve Jefferson and no face-to-face contact with Frost, unless approved by his parole officer.

Danton, who turns 29 next month, spent parts of three seasons with the St. Louis Blues and New Jersey Devils.

With files from The Canadian Press