Former Ottawa Senators prospect Alex Formenton has agreed to a contract to return to HC Ambri-Piotta, the team announced Saturday.
Formenton, 25, agreed to a deal with the Swiss club that runs through the international break in December and includes an option for an extension through the end of the 2025-26 season.
“Leaving his personal experiences in Canada behind him, Alex has decided to return to hockey and has expressed his desire to relaunch his professional career wearing the number 10 jersey for Ambri,” the team said in a statement. “The Leventina club is delighted with his return and looks forward to welcoming him back to the ice of the Gottardo Arena.”
Formenton, along with his former teammates Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote, is ineligible to compete in the NHL. All five players, members of Canada’s gold medal-winning 2018 world junior hockey team, were charged with sexual assault in 2024 in connection with an alleged incident after a Hockey Canada event in London, Ont., in June 2018.
They were acquitted this past July, but the NHL said it was “reviewing and considering” Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia’s ruling and the players would remain ineligible to play in the league. According to league sources, discussions will continue this weekend on when the NHL will formally reinstate Formenton and the other four players.
⚪️🔵 Bentornato a casa, Formi 🤩 pic.twitter.com/MVYemT6qR5
— HC Ambrì Piotta (@HCAP1937) September 6, 2025
A second-round pick by the Senators in the 2017 NHL Draft, Formenton has played parts of four seasons with Ottawa. The left winger had a breakout campaign in 2021-22, scoring 18 goals and leading the league with five shorthanded goals. But he hasn’t played with the Senators since failing to sign a contract with the team before the Dec. 1 deadline in 2022, a rule stipulated in the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
Instead, he signed with HC Ambri-Piotta in mid-December that same year. He returned to the team the following season and recorded 10 goals and six assists in 24 regular-season games, but was granted a leave of absence in January 2024 after he was charged with sexual assault.
— The Athletic’s Chris Johnston contributed to this report.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)