NHL to Reinstate Players Acquitted in Hockey Canada Trial, Eligible to Play December 1

The five Canadian hockey players found not guilty of sexual assault in a July verdict in London, Ontario will be allowed to play in the NHL starting Dec. 1, the league announced Thursday.

Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Cal Foote, Dillon Dubé and Michael McLeod will be eligible to sign new contracts as soon as Oct. 15, according to the league.

The NHL noted the decision took into account that each player had already “been away from the game for 20 months.”

The five players were charged in February 2024 with sexually assaulting a plaintiff identified publicly as E.M in 2018. Each player was acquitted in a verdict shared July 24 by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia.

The NHL Players’ Association said in a statement it had “initiated discussions with the NHL” about the players’ return after Carroccia’s verdict.

The NHL said in its statement that the events described in the lawsuit, which allegedly took place in a hotel room during a Hockey Canada Foundation Gala & Golf event in Ontario months after the players won gold with the Canadian world junior team, “were deeply troubling and unacceptable.”

According to the NHL, the league conducted a “third-party investigation” of the incident starting in May 2022 but paused when the players were charged in January 2024.

The league then met with the five players in person after Carroccia announced her verdict, according to the NHL.

“In relying on both our own investigation, and the conclusions reached by Justice Carroccia in her opinion, and the players’ acquittal, the League 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,” the NHL wrote.

The NHL concluded, “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.”

Four of the five players were on NHL rosters when charges were initially filed in February 2024, excepting Formenton, who was playing for HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland’s National League.

Each NHL player took what teams described as a “leave of absence” after the charges were filed. None were tendered qualifying offers after the 2023-24 season.

Foote spent the majority of his last professional hockey season with the New Jersey Devils’ AHL affiliate, but Hart, McLeod and Dubé were full-time NHL players when charges were filed.

Hart had most recently served as part of a goaltending tandem with the Philadelphia Flyers, while forwards McLeod and Dubé were skating for the Devils and Calgary Flames, respectively.