NHL commissioner facing media ahead of players' court appearance on sexual assault charges

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is expected to address media this afternoon as five current and former NHL players charged with sexual assault in London, Ont. prepare to appear in court on Monday.

New Jersey Devils player Michael McLeod faces two charges of sexual assault. Police charged McLeod both with committing the offence and being a party to the offence, according to court documents. His teammate, Cal Foote, was also charged with one count of sexual assault.

The Devils re-signed McLeod and Foote last summer to one-year contracts worth $2.2 million combined.

Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Dillion Dubé of the Calgary Flames and former Ottawa Senator Alex Formenton, who now plays in Switzerland, were also charged, according to court documents.

Lawyers for the players say they have denied any wrongdoing and will plead not guilty.

The charges are tied to an alleged group sexual assault by players from Canada's 2018 World Junior team. Police allege the incident happened in a players' hotel room following a Hockey Canada Foundation Gala and Golf event on June 19, 2018.

The woman at the centre of the allegations, known only in court documents as "E.M.", filed a $3.5 million lawsuit that Hockey Canada settled.

The settlement shook the sports world and parents were outraged to learn that their registration fees paid for the settlement without their knowledge, along with other settlements over the years tied to sexual abuse allegations that were worth millions of dollars.

London Police, Hockey Canada and the NHL all launched separate investigations into the alleged 2018 sexual assault.

Bettman said more than a year ago that his league's investigation was in the "home stretch" and getting "really close to the end." He