It didn\u2019t take long to get an answer. The Hurricanes are seriously considering signing McLeod, a bottom-six center who last had 10 goals and nine assists in 45 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2023-24. And both the Hurricanes and Vegas Golden Knights are taking a long look at Hart, the Flyers\u2019 No. 1 goaltender for half a decade. The NHL decided<\/a> that the players can agree to terms as soon as Oct. 1, can sign contracts on Oct. 15, and will be eligible to play in NHL games again on Dec. 1.<\/p>\n At this point, it\u2019s only a matter of time.<\/p>\n \u201cThose guys have been through the whole thing and came out acquitted,\u201d Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal said. \u201cI\u2019m sure all of them regret what went on and what happened but are moving forward and moving on.\u201d<\/p>\n None of the players has played in the NHL since taking various forms of leaves of absence in January 2024, when the sexual-assault charges were filed against them stemming from an incident in London, Ont., during a celebration of Team Canada\u2019s gold medal at the 2018 World Junior Championship. The trial lasted eight weeks, with several players\u2019 sexual encounter with a woman identified only as E.M. laid out in detail. The trial often had a carnival atmosphere, with an early mistrial and Carroccia dismissing a second jury and opting to decide the case on her own. Ultimately, Carroccia determined that E.M. had given clear consent that night.<\/p>\n In the meantime, McLeod and Dub\u00e9 played in the KHL last season, while Foote played in Slovakia and Formenton remained in Switzerland, as he already was out of the NHL. Hart stayed in North America, preferring to train closer to home. Even after the trial ended, the league delayed their on-ice returns until Dec. 1, saying \u201cthe conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the league and its member clubs expect and demand.\u201d<\/p>\n The Athletic visited both Raleigh, N.C., and Las Vegas in the past week to discuss the possible signings with each team. The Hurricanes acknowledged the gravity of the situation and were open to talking about it, even in somewhat awkward hypotheticals. Carolina coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour, for one, politely answered a few questions away from other gathered reporters following a practice on Friday. He pleaded unawareness of general manager Eric Tulsky\u2019s plans but had no qualms about bringing aboard one of the newly reinstated players.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, that\u2019s news to me,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said when told the Hurricanes were considering both McLeod and Hart. \u201cRumors are rumors. Every time there\u2019s a player out there, they always say that our team\u2019s involved. I haven\u2019t given it much thought, but any player that comes here would be welcomed with open arms. That\u2019s the only reason we\u2019re bringing someone into this family. You\u2019ve got to treat them like that. You\u2019re talking about a hypothetical, but that\u2019s how I would approach it.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other side of the country, the Golden Knights took a different tack. The team declined to allow head coach Bruce Cassidy to speak to The Athletic one-on-one after learning of the topic. Several minutes later, before Cassidy began a news conference, the spokesperson pulled an Athletic reporter out of the room and told him to leave the team\u2019s practice facility immediately. The Athletic\u2019s press pass for that evening\u2019s preseason game was revoked. The spokesperson said The Athletic had \u201cambushed\u201d Noah Hanifin during routine locker-room media interviews that morning and the team was not \u201ccomfortable\u201d allowing the reporter to cover the game.<\/p>\n Hanifin, for his part, showed no irritation at the questions (he was one of only two established players who made himself available for interviews that day). He said any player who joined the team would be shown love and support.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you\u2019re in a locker room with guys, you\u2019re brothers, you\u2019re family,\u201d the veteran defenseman said. \u201cYou\u2019re trying to take care of each other, no matter what\u2019s going on, good or bad, off the ice. You want to make sure that when guys come to the rink, they feel they have the support and that they\u2019re part of it. That\u2019s a huge part of being on a team.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone that\u2019s in this room right now, everyone has lives away from here. They have families, they have kids. When you come here, you\u2019ve got to make sure everyone\u2019s doing well mentally and feeling good. And if someone needs a hand or needs someone to talk to, that\u2019s what your teammates are there for.\u201d<\/p>\n That the Golden Knights, organizationally, were so on guard underscores the dicey nature of the decision facing Carolina, Vegas or any other team that chooses to sign one of the five players. On Tuesday morning, it was one reporter quietly asking somewhat vague and generalized questions. It\u2019s not hard to envision what it\u2019ll be like for any of these players following a morning skate in, say, Toronto, during the regular season.<\/p>\n Carter Hart leaves the courthouse on July 24, 2025 in London, Ontario, after being acquitted of sexual assault charges. (Cole Burston \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n There are precedents for such a heightened media circus. In the summer of 2015, fresh off his third Stanley Cup championship, Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane faced allegations of sexual assault in Western New York. The case dragged into training camp and the regular season. And even once the allegations were dismissed, Kane faced questions about the case in nearly every city the Blackhawks visited. Every road morning skate turned into an impromptu news conference at Kane\u2019s locker stall. The swarms of reporters were particularly large and the questions particularly pointed in Canada, where the spotlight on hockey shines so much brighter than, say, Raleigh, Las Vegas or even Chicago. Some Blackhawks players privately groused about the frenzy, but it was mostly Kane\u2019s burden to bear.<\/p>\n Brind\u2019Amour doesn\u2019t expect it to be any different should the Hurricanes sign McLeod and\/or Hart.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s on the player,\u201d he said. \u201cIt does nothing for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Staal faced a fraction of that scrutiny after his own teenage missteps. He\u2019s never been on trial for his name and his career or had his sex life dissected in a courtroom, in barrooms and in newsrooms across the continent. And he\u2019s never been out of the league for two years, wondering if he\u2019d ever return, or if he\u2019d ever be allowed to return. But he has been a young hockey star with the world at his feet, and he was arrested at age 18 for disorderly conduct, underage drinking and obstruction during his older brother Eric\u2019s bachelor party in the summer of 2007. It was mostly late-night noise violations and harassing motorists. The charges brought against the players in the Hockey Canada trial were far more serious and far more high-profile.<\/p>\n But Staal, now 37, is trying to extend some grace to them as they try to restart their careers.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone makes mistakes, including myself,\u201d Staal said. \u201cAs an 18-year-old kid, I\u2019ve done some stupid stuff. I went to jail. I had to go through a lot of crap because of it, and it wasn\u2019t fun. I had to go through some crappy times, but I owned it.\u201d<\/p>\n Staal has at least an idea of what the reinstated players might be looking at, particularly on trips to bigger, more hockey-obsessed markets.<\/p>\n \u201cMedia guys all want a little piece of them, and everyone wants to write their own little snippet and not miss out on the juicy stuff,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s part of making mistakes, too.\u201d<\/p>\n As the Hockey Canada trial wore on, the Hurricanes weren\u2019t really entertaining the idea of signing any of the five players should they be acquitted. But the nature of Carroccia\u2019s judgment \u2014 she spent hours dissecting and picking apart E.M.\u2019s claims \u2014 changed the team\u2019s mindset. A team source, who spoke to The Athletic on condition of anonymity so they could talk candidly about sensitive information, was very clear that the organization isn\u2019t merely writing off the incident as just \u201ckids being kids\u201d but noted there\u2019s a significant difference between distasteful and criminal. The matter of consent was at the heart of the trial, and Carroccia\u2019s determination that there was clear consent opened the door to the team at least considering signing the players.<\/p>\n From there, it becomes a matter of risk versus reward. The risk of signing any of these players is evident \u2014 they haven\u2019t played in the NHL in two years and come with a hefty amount of public-relations baggage. Already, a group of fans in Carolina has organized to send the message to the organization that signing Hart or McLeod would be a red line for them<\/a>, and 1,300-plus people have signed an online petition<\/a> urging the team not to sign the players. Still, it\u2019s no surprise that some teams would consider Hart, in particular, worth the risk, given his pedigree as a second-round pick and his steady career in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n From a roster-building standpoint, Vegas seems the more logical fit for Hart. Adin Hill\u2019s backup, Akira Schmid, has only 48 NHL games under his belt, with a modest .903 save percentage. Carolina, meanwhile, has both Frederik Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov on the NHL roster, neither of whom would likely clear waivers to make room for Hart. Andersen is in the last year of his contract, though, so it might be worth it to Carolina to keep three goalies in the meantime to have a long-term solution in net.<\/p>\n Hurricanes defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere played with Hart during the goalie\u2019s first three seasons in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a really young guy when I played with him; he was our rookie, so to speak,\u201d Gostisbehere said. \u201cGreat teammate, great kid. He\u2019s obviously going through some stuff. But that\u2019s the outside noise, and I\u2019m sure he just wants to get back to playing hockey. If we do sign him, it\u2019d be great. But we\u2019ve got a good squad here, and I\u2019m only going to comment on the guys who are in the room right now.\u201d<\/p>\n McLeod isn\u2019t nearly as high profile, but he can fill a need in almost any team\u2019s bottom six. And for teams such as Carolina and Vegas that are chasing championships every year, any player could be the one who puts them over the top.<\/p>\n Players around the league, just like fans, are intimately familiar with the details of the Hockey Canada trial. But the players The Athletic spoke to were reluctant to draw any conclusions or make any judgments based on what they\u2019ve heard or read. Hurricanes veteran Taylor Hall said any player who joined the team would get a fresh start, and a fair chance to prove himself a good teammate \u2014 and good person.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the years, I\u2019ve played with guys that you\u2019ve heard things about,\u201d Hall said. \u201cYou just do your best to give them a clean slate and to respect them as a teammate, and ultimately help them be the best teammate they can be to help us be a good team and win games. It\u2019s not the end-all, be-all, winning games. But I\u2019ve played with guys you\u2019ve heard bad things about and they\u2019ve been great. And then there\u2019s guys that have a great reputation and they come in and you\u2019re like, ehhh, not so sure.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the scrutiny that surely will follow these players, at least in the short term, Hall said that\u2019s just part of the job.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing an athlete, being a team, is about clearing those distractions out of the way and focusing on what\u2019s in here,\u201d Hall said. \u201cIf it ever came to that, I think we\u2019d have chats as a team on how we\u2019re going to handle it internally, the media, and then go from there.\u201d<\/p>\n NHL players view their locker room as an almost hallowed place, their work a refuge of sorts. And outside issues \u2014 whether familial and financial or salacious and self-inflicted \u2014 are left outside. Gostisbehere called hockey \u201can escape,\u201d saying that \u201cyou leave your problems at the door.\u201d The inevitable return of Hart, and the likely return of McLeod, will be one of the sternest tests of that magic force field yet.<\/p>\n There will be disdain and disgust from some corners, there will be forgiveness and acceptance from others, and there will be scrutiny from all. But in the cold calculus of professional sports, the quickest way for the players and the teams that sign them to move on will be to simply play well. The questions surrounding Kane in the fall of 2015 died down by midseason, not just because the case had been dismissed, but because Kane was lighting it up each night on his way to an MVP season. Fair or not, right or not, he changed the narrative. The sports world\u2019s attention span is fickle and fleeting like that.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll all depend,\u201d Staal said. \u201cIf the outside stuff is affecting the game on the ice, then it definitely will come into the locker room. There\u2019s no question. Guys might hide it well, and you might not know, but in a lot of ways, you can tell. When there\u2019s stuff going on outside the rink and this person doesn\u2019t have the same mood as he usually does, you might know something\u2019s up, something\u2019s going on at home. That\u2019s where your teammates come in. We want to care for each other. That\u2019s a big thing we\u2019ve tried to get a lot better at, being a family in here. It would end up in the room and it would have to get sorted out. But we\u2019d help our teammate, our buddy, get through it. That\u2019s what being a team is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n (Top photos: Rich Graessle, Christian Petersen \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS and RALEIGH, N.C. \u2014 Of the 61 NHL goaltenders who started at least 100 games between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167773,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,3615,2331,575,85,7529],"class_list":["post-167772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-carolina-hurricanes","tag-culture","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-vegas-golden-knights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2226031516-scaled.jpg\")
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