NHL teams to weigh talent against backlash after 5 players reinstated, lawyer says

A sports lawyer says NHL teams will weigh talent against potential backlash when deciding whether to sign one of the five players acquitted in the 2018 London, Ont., sexual assault trial.

The league announced Thursday that Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart — who are all free agents — can return to play Dec. 1, but will be eligible to sign with teams starting Oct. 15 while awaiting full reinstatement.

McLeod, Dube, Foote, Formenton and Hart were all charged with one count of sexual assault stemming from an encounter with a woman after a 2018 gala celebrating the Canadian world junior team's gold medal. McLeod was also charged with one count of being a party to the offence.

All five players were acquitted of all charges on July 24 in London, Ont., after pleading not guilty when the two-month trial opened in April.

"I think what's going to happen here is that there are going to be different amounts of justice and retribution meting out depending upon how good a hockey player you are," said Greg Gilhooly, a lawyer and survivor of sexual abuse by hockey coach Graham James. "Carter Hart will be signed and he will play and teams will take some abuse for it.

"The team that signs him will take some abuse for it but he's a good player and so teams will take that risk. For other marginal players, teams will shy away."

McLeod, Hart, Dube and Foote were active NHL players at the time of their 2024 arrests, which came days after all four players were granted leave from their clubs. Hart was the Philadelphia Flyers' starting goaltender at that time, with a career .906 save percentage and a 2.94 goals-against average.

Formenton, a 2017 second-round draft pick by the Ottawa Senators, has not played in