Goalie Carter Hart to start for Vegas Golden Knights in Edmonton against Oilers

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Carter Hart stretches during warm-up before a game against the Calgary Flames in an NHL hockey game in Calgary on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart will be the first of five former Canadian junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault earlier this year to appear in a professional game in Canada.

Hart, from Sherwood Park, Alta., is scheduled to start for the Golden Knights on Sunday against the Oilers in Edmonton.

The Golden Knights faced the Flames in Calgary on Saturday when Akira Schmid was the Vegas starter.

Hart wasn’t available to media after the Saturday morning skates because he was backing up Schmid in the evening game, a team spokesman said.

Hart, forwards Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dube and defenceman Cal Foote were acquitted of sexual assault charges in London, Ont., in July.

The five pleaded not guilty to the charges stemming from a sexual encounter with a woman known as “E.M.” at a 2018 Hockey Canada gala in London, where their national junior team’s gold medal at that year’s world championship was celebrated.

The charges, trial and judge’s decision were polarizing in Canada given the country’s passion for hockey, and the large viewership Canada’s games draw at the annual junior tournament.

The trial and decision amplified the conversation around what constitutes sexual consent.

A person wearing a Flames jersey pressed signs — one of which said “Justice for E.M.” — against the Saddledome glass near the Vegas blue line during warm-ups Saturday evening.

Hockey Canada conduct under microscope

Hockey Canada’s conduct in handling the allegations and its settlements of other unrelated lawsuits also went under the microscope.

McLeod, Hart, Dube and Foote were active NHL players at the time of their 2024 arrests.

The NHL said in September the five players, who were all free agents, could sign with teams Oct. 15 and start playing Dec. 1.

Hart, 27, has been the lone player among the five to sign with an NHL club. He spent his first six NHL seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers.

He played his first game with Vegas on Dec. 2. Hart’s record with the Golden Knights was 3-0-2 with a 2.26 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.

“He looks very comfortable. He’s been a real good pro,” Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said Saturday. “Before he played for us, he practised, so that’s how we got to know him around the rink.

“He is in early doing his work, so that part has been good. He went on a trip to Florida early in the year, even though he couldn’t play, to get to know the guys. So I think that was good for him to get to know his teammates. The other part, Carter, I’m not sure, he’s kind of a quiet guy to begin with, so probably a little bit to himself, typical goalie that way.”

If and where the players resumed their careers drew attention in Canada.

“He’s handled it great. Edmonton will be different. You’re back in Canada, his hometown,” Cassidy said. “Philadelphia was good. He didn’t play that day. We played three games that week. He played the other two, but certainly those are all memories for him that only he can speak to, how easy or difficult they are.”

Foote signed with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, which is a Carolina Hurricanes affiliate, earlier this month.

Dube recently signed a professional tryout contract with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Thunderbirds, which is a St. Louis Blues affiliate.

Formenton is playing in Switzerland for Ambri-Piotta and McLeod is playing in the Russia-based KHL for Avangard-Omsk.

In its September statement that reinstated the players, the NHL said based on its own investigation and the Ontario judge’s decision, “the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the league and its member clubs expect and demand,” and “each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the league following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 20, 2025.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press