Lawyer: NHL teams to weigh talent against backlash after five players reinstated

A sports lawyer says NHL teams will weigh talent against potential backlash when deciding whether to sign one of the five players acquitted in the 2018 London, Ont., sexual assault trial.

The league announced Thursday that Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart – who are all free agents – can return to play Dec. 1, but will be eligible to sign with teams starting Oct. 15 while awaiting full reinstatement.

McLeod, Dube, Foote, Formenton and Hart were all charged with one count of sexual assault stemming from an encounter with a woman after a 2018 gala celebrating the Canadian world junior team’s gold medal. McLeod was also charged with one count of being a party to the offence.

All five players were acquitted of all charges on July 24 in London, Ont., after pleading not guilty when the two-month trial opened in April.

“I think what’s going to happen here is that there are going to be different amounts of justice and retribution meting out depending upon how good a hockey player you are,” said Greg Gilhooly, a lawyer and survivor of sexual abuse by hockey coach Graham James. “Carter Hart will be signed and he will play and teams will take some abuse for it. 

“The team that signs him will take some abuse for it but he’s a good player and so teams will take that risk. For other marginal players, teams will shy away.”

McLeod, Hart, Dubé and Foote were active NHL players at the time of their 2024 arrests, which came days after all four players were granted leave from their clubs. Hart was the Philadelphia Flyers’ starting goaltender at that time, with a career .906 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average.

Formenton, a 2017 second-round draft pick by the Ottawa Senators, has not played in the NHL since 2022. Last week, he signed with Swiss club Ambrì-Piotta.

The court’s decision sparked plenty of public outrage, with many online commenting that “not guilty doesn’t mean innocent.”

Following the ruling, the NHL said the players would be ineligible to compete while the league reviewed the judge’s findings.

Despite announcing that the players will become eligible to return, the league said Thursday the trial findings and its own investigation showed the players’ conduct fell “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 NHL said in a release. “Nevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal league-imposed discipline.”

The NHLPA, meanwhile, expressed its satisfaction with the decision.

“We are pleased that Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod will have the opportunity to resume their NHL careers,” the players’ association’s statement read. “The players cooperated with every investigation. Upon their full acquittal by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, we initiated discussions with the NHL regarding the players’ return to work. To avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay, we reached the resolution that the league announced today.

“We now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players’ return.”

There was a mixed reaction online, with some referring to the suspension as a public relations move from the league. Others said the players should already have been reinstated, while many criticized hockey culture.

“The league is in a very difficult spot because the situation, it doesn’t come across well for anyone involved, right?” Gilhooly said. “I think the NHL is doing its best to be seen doing the right things and send the right message. I have a lot of sympathy for the NHL because once the judge found that there had been consent, these individuals were innocent. And how do you suspend an innocent person?

“Absolutely, there are moral clauses and contracts and all of that. But again, to my point, my guess is there are a lot more than five NHLers who have participated in group sex. And if you’re gonna suspend for group sex, you’re going to be suspending a lot of hockey players.”