Five former Hockey Canada players who were found not guilty of sexual assault charges in July will be suspended to start the 2025-26 NHL season but eligible to return to play Dec. 1, the league announced Thursday.
Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod were members of Hockey Canada's 2018 National U-20 Junior Team. They were criminally charged in early 2024 for an alleged incident that took place after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario.
In July, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia found the five players not guilty of sexual assault. McLeod also was acquitted of a separate charge of being a party to the offense of sexual assault.
The NHL said at the time that the players were ineligible to play until reinstated. The NHL and NHLPA jointly negotiated the players' eligibility for this season.
At the time of the charges, four of the players were active in the NHL and went on indefinite leave: Dubé was a forward with the Calgary Flames; Hart was the starting goalie for the Philadelphia Flyers; and McLeod (center) and Foote (defenseman) were members of the New Jersey Devils organization.
All five are currently NHL free agents and can sign contracts beginning Oct. 15.
"Taking into account that the players have been away from the game for 20 months -- including since their acquittals in July -- we have determined that the players will be eligible to sign an NHL contract no sooner than October 15, 2025, and eligible to play in NHL games no sooner than December 1, 2025, bringing their total time out of the League to nearly two years," the NHL said in a statement.
The NHLPA said it was "pleased [the players] will have the opportunity to resume" their NHL careers. "The players cooperated with every investigation. Upon their full acquittal by Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia, we initiated discussions with the NHL regarding the players' return to work. To avoid a protracted dispute that would cause further delay, we reached the resolution that the league announced today. We now consider the matter closed and look forward to the players' return," the NHLPA said in a statement.
Since May 2022, the NHL had been conducting its own investigation, calling the incident in 2018 "deeply troubling and unacceptable." The third-party inquiry included "interviews with every player on the team and several other relevant parties who were willing to meet with us, and examination of hundreds of documents, videos and texts [involved in the case]."
"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 NHL said in a statement. "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."
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN on Tuesday that teams were already inquiring about the eligibility of the acquitted Hockey Canada players before their return was announced.
"Not a lot of them, but some check in and see what the status is, just like you would ask what the status is," Daly said at the NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas. "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."
It's expected that Hart and Dubé could garner the most interest from NHL teams. Dubé, 27, played six seasons with the Flames and had back-to-back 18-goal campaigns from 2021 to 2023. Hart, 27, played six seasons in goal for the Flyers with a .906 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average in 227 games.