The NHL is reinstating five players who were acquitted of sexual assault charges earlier this summer related to allegations from an alleged 2018 incident after a Hockey Canada event in Ontario.
Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod will be allowed to play in NHL games starting on Dec. 1, the league said in a statement Thursday evening, after they became eligible to sign with an NHL team no sooner than Oct.15.
Dubé, Foote, Hart and McLeod are unrestricted free agents and free to sign with any club, while Formenton is a Group 2 restricted free agent still on the Senators’ reserve list, according to The Athletic.
The five players can begin conditioning with their new team — should they be signed — beginning on Nov. 15, according to the outlet.
Dubé, Foote, Hart, Formenton and McLeod were acquitted in July after a woman, identified as E.M., alleged she had been sexually assaulted over a several-hour span in a hotel room in London, Ont., in June 2018 after a celebration put on by Hockey Canada for the World Junior Championship title from earlier in the year.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled that prosecutors had not proven their case and that she did not find the evidence to be “credible or reliable.”
In the Thursday announcement, the NHL said 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.”
“Each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the League following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions. Nevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal League-imposed discipline,” the statement continued. “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 said in a statement that it had reached a “resolution” with the league in order to “avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay.”
“We now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players’ return,” the statement concluded.
London police initially launched an investigation into the allegations the week they are alleged to have taken place and ended the inquiry in February 2019, but criticism of Hockey Canada’s handling of the incident led authorities to reopen the investigation in July 2022.
NHL teams have reportedly been inquiring about the players’ eligibility, with deputy commissioner Bill Daly telling ESPN this week that it was “not a lot of them, but some check in and see what the status is, just like you would ask what the status is.”
“I don’t know if that means they have an interest [in signing them] or not, but they’ve been checking on status from time to time,” he told the outlet.
Hart is one of the most prominent names among those five players after having spent five seasons as the Flyers’ starting goalie, and he’s expected to draw interest from NHL teams.