{"id":137598,"date":"2025-09-12T11:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T11:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/137598\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T11:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T11:33:09","slug":"nhl-teams-to-weigh-talent-against-backlash-after-5-players-reinstated-lawyer-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/137598\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL teams to weigh talent against backlash after 5 players reinstated, lawyer says"},"content":{"rendered":"

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,\u00a0Ont., sexual assault trial.<\/p>\n

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The league announced Thursday that Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart \u2013 who are all free agents \u2013 can return to play Dec. 1, but will be eligible to sign with teams starting Oct. 15 while awaiting full reinstatement.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s gold medal. McLeod was also charged with one count of being a party to the offence.<\/p>\n

All five players were acquitted of all charges on July 24 in London,\u00a0Ont., after pleading not guilty when the two-month trial opened in April.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think what\u2019s going to happen here is that there are going to be different amounts of justice and retribution kneaded out depending upon how good a hockey player you are,\u201d said Greg Gilhooly, a lawyer and survivor of sexual abuse by hockey coach Graham James. \u201cCarter Hart will be signed and he will play and teams will take some abuse for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team that signs him will take some abuse for it but he\u2019s a good player and so teams will take that risk. For other marginal players, teams will shy away.\u201d<\/p>\n

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McLeod, Hart, Dub\u00e9 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\u2019 starting goaltender at that time, with a career .906 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average.<\/p>\n

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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 Ambr\u00ec-Piotta.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision sparked plenty of public outrage, with many online commenting that \u201cnot guilty doesn\u2019t mean innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the ruling, the NHL said the players would be ineligible to compete while the league reviewed the judge\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

Despite announcing that the players will become eligible to return, the league said Thursday the trial findings and its own investigation showed the players\u2019 conduct fell \u201cwoefully short of the standards and values that the league and its member clubs expect and demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cEach of the players, based on in-person meetings with the League following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions,\u201d the NHL said in a release. \u201cNevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal league-imposed discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The NHLPA, meanwhile, expressed its satisfaction with the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are pleased that Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod will have the opportunity to resume their NHL careers,\u201d the players\u2019 association\u2019s statement read. \u201cThe players cooperated with every investigation. Upon their full acquittal by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, we initiated discussions with the NHL regarding the players\u2019 return to work. To avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay, we reached the resolution that the league announced today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players\u2019 return.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe league is in a very difficult spot because the situation, it doesn\u2019t come across well for anyone involved, right?\u201d Gilhooly said. \u201cI 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?<\/p>\n

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\u201cAbsolutely, 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\u2019re gonna suspend for group sex, you\u2019re going to be suspending a lot of hockey players.\u201d<\/p>\n

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