NHL says status of players found not guilty in Hockey Canada scandal expected in 'near future'

WARNING: This article references alleged sexual assault and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone impacted by it.

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says he expects a decision soon on the status of five former Hockey Canada players acquitted at trial in a high-profile sexual assault case.

Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Callan Foote were acquitted July 24 in London, Ont. McLeod was also acquitted of a separate charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.

The ruling, which was handed down more than seven years after the encounter in a hotel room at the heart of the case, capped off a complex trial that captured attention across Canada and renewed conversations about consent and hockey culture.

The NHL said following the decision, the players remain ineligible to suit up in the league while it reviews the findings. That declaration was denounced by the NHL Players' Association, while Hockey Canada said the five athletes remain suspended from all its sanctioned programming.

Daly didn't provide an update Tuesday when speaking to a small group of reporters at the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas, but said he anticipates there will be "a decision at some point in the relatively near future."

Daly added the NHL takes "the matter very seriously, and that's why it's still under review."

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The case centred on an encounter that took place in the early hours of June 19, 2018, when many members of that year's podium-topping world junior hockey team were in London for a series of events celebrating