NHL players involved in sexual assault case denied contracts

The four active NHL players from the scandal that rocked Canadian hockey and led to multiple investigations into the 2018 world junior team were not offered contracts by their respective teams Sunday, marking a major development in hockey history.

Charges were laid in February in London, Ont., against five players, all of whom took a leave of absence from their respective teams. As of Sunday, the four players still in the NHL – Philadelphia Flyers goalie Carter Hart, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube – did not receive offers. qualification, making them free agents, available to sign with new clubs starting at 12 p.m. ET Monday.

The players are still awaiting trial, after a woman sued Hockey Canada in 2022, alleging she was sexually assaulted by eight members of Canada’s World Junior Team after a fundraising gala in London in 2018. Hockey Canada settled the suit, then an investigation revealed that the organization had two secret funds to pay settlements over sexual assault and abuse claims.

According to London Detective Sgt. Katherine Dann, the alleged incident occurred in the early morning of June 19, 2018, after one of the defendants met the victim at a bar and took her to the Delta Hotel London Armouries.

According to previously released court documents, the woman, then 20, alleged that “John Doe #1” took her to a hotel room and invited seven other men to perform undisclosed sexual acts there, intimidating her and preventing her from leaving. The woman said in the complaint that the men ordered her to take a shower and asked her to say on video that she was sober.

Dann said London police received a call later on June 19, 2018, from a relative of the victim and launched an investigation. It was closed in 2019 without charges.

The 2022 lawsuit, which sought $3.55 million in damages and was dropped after reaching a settlement with Hockey Canada, led police to reopen the investigation and charges against five members of that team. Asked about other players, Dann said in February that charges had been filed “on every charge that we have reasonable grounds for.”

The NHL launched its own investigation in 2022. Officials have pledged to release the findings, though commissioner Gary Bettman said in February that would depend on what the league could say following legal proceedings.

Hart, McLeod, Foote, Dube and former NHL player Alex Formenton, now with Swiss club HC Ambri-Piotta, have been charged with sexual assault. McLeod faces an additional charge of aiding and abetting sexual assault.

Lawyers for the five players said the players were not guilty and would fight the allegations. All four NHL players were on paid leave from their teams until the end of the month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.