The five hockey players acquitted on sexual assault charges in the Hockey Canada trial will be eligible to return to the NHL later this year, the league announced Thursday.
Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote are officially unrestricted free agents, per the decision, and can sign contracts with any team. The contracts can be registered with the NHL on Oct. 15, and the players can appear in a game on Dec. 1. They can begin conditioning with a team on Nov. 15, according to a league source.
Formenton is a Group 2 restricted free agent who remains on the Ottawa Senators’ reserve list. That means he has to sign with the team by Dec. 1 to be eligible for NHL games this season. Like the other players, he can begin conditioning Nov. 15 and playing games Dec. 1, but he signed a contract with the Swiss team Ambrì-Piotta last week that runs through the international break in December, making his situation somewhat murky.
The league had stated after the verdicts were announced on July 24 that it would be “reviewing and considering” the findings of Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia.
All five players had been charged with sexual assault in connection to an alleged incident in June 2018 in which a woman known publicly as E.M. — her identity is protected by a publication ban — said she was sexually assaulted over the span of several hours in a London, Ont., hotel room. The players were in town for a Hockey Canada event celebrating their victory at the World Junior Championship earlier that year. McLeod had also been charged with being party to the offense.
In her decision, Carroccia said the prosecution had not proven its case and that she did not find the evidence of the complainant “credible or reliable.”
“Having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M., and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me,” Carroccia said.
Later that day, the NHL announced that the players remained ineligible. The collective bargaining agreement gives commissioner Gary Bettman considerable power to punish players for off-ice conduct deemed harmful to the league, including actions that don’t result in criminal convictions. Article 18-A grants Bettman the ability to expel, suspend or fine players or cancel their contracts following a league investigation and hearing.
“The allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing, and the behavior at issue was unacceptable,” the league said in its July 24 statement.
The league reiterated that Thursday, saying in its statement that it “has determined that the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the league and its member clubs expect and demand.”
“Each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the league following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions,” the statement continue. “Nevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal league-imposed discipline.
“Given their conduct, we carefully evaluated the players’ acquittal in court and the time spent away from the game. Taking into account that the players have been away from the game for 20 months — including since their acquittals in July — we have determined that the players will be eligible to sign an NHL contract no sooner than Oct. 15, 2025, and eligible to play in NHL games no sooner than Dec. 1, 2025, bringing their total time out of the league to nearly two years.
“The league expects and requires that, going forward, each of the players will uphold the standards required of NHL players both on and off the ice.”
The NHL Players’ Association took issue with the NHL’s statement from July, saying in its own statement at the time that the league’s approach was “inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the CBA” and that they planned to “address the dispute.”
On Thursday, the NHLPA said in a statement that “to avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay, we reached the resolution that the league announced. We now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players’ return.”
All but Formenton were playing in the NHL prior to their arrests in January of 2024, and all pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, they would have faced a maximum of 10 years in prison.
At the time of his arrest, the 26-year-old Hart was in his fifth season as the starting goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers. He has a career save percentage of .906, six points higher than the NHL average in 2024-25.
“Mr. Hart regrets that it took a criminal trial for the truth to come out, but he has learned from the experience and he is committing to sharing what he has learned with others in his personal circle and in his professional life,” Hart’s attorney, Megan Savard, said outside the courthouse after the verdicts. “He will be taking time today to process today’s outcome and is grateful to his family, his friends and his supporters for standing by him during this profoundly challenging time.”
McLeod and Dube are forwards who have played multiple NHL seasons, with the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames, respectively. Foote, a defenseman and veteran of 145 NHL games, spent 2024-25 with a team in Slovakia. Formenton played 103 games for the Senators, then parts of two seasons in Switzerland.
(Photo of Cal Foote: Cole Burston / Getty Images)
