Suspended at the start of the 2025-26 season, but eligible in December
The NHL announced that five former Hockey Canada players, recently found not guilty of sexual assault charges, will be suspended at the start of the 2025-26 season. However, they will be able to return to competition starting December 1st. Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod, who were part of the Hockey Canada’s 2018 World Junior team, were accused in early 2024 for an incident that occurred after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario. In July, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled the five players not guilty of sexual assault. McLeod was also acquitted of a separate charge of being an accessory to the crime of sexual assault. At the time of the charges, four of the players were active in the NHL and took an indefinite leave: Dube played for the Calgary Flames, Hart was the starting goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, and McLeod and Foote were members of the New Jersey Devils organization. Currently, all five are NHL free agents.The NHLPA expressed its satisfaction with the opportunity players will have to resume their careers in the NHL. “The players cooperated with all investigations. Following their complete acquittal by Judge Maria Carroccia, we initiated conversations with the NHL regarding the players’ return to work. To avoid a prolonged 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,” stated the NHLPA. Since May 2022, the NHL had been conducting its own investigation, calling the 2018 incident “deeply troubling and unacceptable.” The investigation included “interviews with each team player and several other relevant parties who were willing to meet with us, and the examination of hundreds of documents, videos, and texts” involved in the case. “Each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the League after the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for their actions. Nevertheless, we believe that their conduct requires formal discipline imposed by the League,” the NHL said in a statement. “The League expects and demands that, in the future, each of the players maintain the required standards of NHL players both on and off the ice.” Bill Daly, NHL Deputy Commissioner, revealed that NHL teams were already inquiring about the eligibility of the Hockey Canada players who were cleared before their return was announced. Hart and Dube are expected to generate the most interest from NHL teams. Dube, 27, played six seasons with the Flames and had consecutive 18-goal seasons from 2021 to 2023. Hart, 27, played six seasons as a Flyers goalie with a .906 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average in 227 games.“Considering the players have been out of the game for 20 months, including since their exonerations in July, we have determined that the players will be eligible to sign an NHL contract no earlier than October 15, 2025, and eligible to play in NHL games no earlier than December 1, 2025, which brings their total time out of the League to almost two years,” the NHL stated in a statement.
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