NHLPA pushes back after NHL says five players acquitted of sexual assault ineligible

The NHL logo is seen on a goal at a Nashville Predators practice rink in Nashville, Tenn. on Sept. 17, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Mark Humphrey

The five former members of Canada’s world junior hockey team were acquitted in the high-profile London, Ont., sexual assault trial Thursday, but the jury is still out on whether or not they’ll be able to resume their NHL careers.

A few hours after the judge’s decision, the NHL said Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote would be ineligible to play while the league reviews the findings.

The NHLPA responded that its players should “have the opportunity to return to work.”

The players were found not guilty of all charges in an encounter with a woman in a hotel room seven years ago, Ontario Superior Court Justice Maria Carroccia ruled.

The NHL stated the allegations in the case were “very disturbing,” even if not deemed criminal. The league also called the behaviour of the players “unacceptable."

"We will be reviewing and considering the judge's findings," the statement read. "While we conduct that analysis and determine next steps, the players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league.”

The NHLPA said ruling the players ineligible while the NHL further evaluates the case does not align with the terms of their collective bargaining agreement.

"Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod were acquitted of all charges by Justice Carroccia of the Ontario Superior Court," the NHLPA's statement read. "After missing more than a full season of their respective NHL careers, they should now have the opportunity to return to work. The NHL’s declaration that the Players are 'ineligible' to play pending its further analysis of the Court's findings is inconsistent with the discipline procedures set forth in the CBA.

"We are addressing this dispute with the League and will have no further comment at this time."

McLeod, Hart, Dubé 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. Formenton, an Ottawa Senators draft pick, has not played in the NHL since 2022.

At the time of the incident in 2018, Formenton had played one NHL game, while Foote, McLeod and Dubé had brief stints with their clubs’ American Hockey League affiliates.

While the NHL’s review is taking place, experts believe it’s possible players will eventually return to the NHL ice.

Ann Pegoraro, a sport management professor at the University of Guelph, said the NHL has not often come down hard on cases of sexual assault or domestic violence.

She added that teams would evaluate whether the benefits of a player’s talent outweigh the risks of fan backlash and potential loss of sponsors.

“Hockey has a very different culture and has a lot more, I would say, latitude in the way that they look at individuals' personal behaviours,” Pegoraro said. “Do I think they'll end up back on teams? I think if their skills are good enough, some teams — not all teams — but some teams will look the other way and put them back on rosters if they can contribute to the team.”

Though the players were not convicted, their reputations may still carry the weight of the allegations, said Richard McLaren, a law professor at Western University and a longtime member of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“I've seen that in many sexual harassment type situations, and it doesn't just disappear because the case is over,” said McLaren, who’s also a labour and commercial arbitrator and mediator with McKenzie Lake Lawyers LLP.

There are recent examples of people returning to the NHL despite being at the centre of sexual assault controversies.

In 2022, the Edmonton Oilers signed Jake Virtanen to a professional tryout less than two months after the former Vancouver Canuck was found not guilty in a sexual assault trial in Vancouver. The Oilers ultimately released Virtanen, who resumed his career in Europe.

Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville — the general manager and head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks scandal in 2010 — are both back in the NHL after failing to act on Kyle Beach’s claims that video coach Brad Aldrich had sexually assaulted him.

Bowman became the Oilers GM last year, and Quenneville was hired as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks in May. Both needed to be reinstated by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.

The NHL did suspend Los Angeles Kings defenceman Slava Voynov for the entire 2019-20 season and playoffs after determining he committed acts of domestic violence.

While Hart and Formenton did not play professionally during the 2024-25 season, McLeod and Dubé spent last season in the Kontinental Hockey League, playing for teams based in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Foote, meanwhile, played a season in Slovakia.

McLaren said those countries are more removed from scandals surrounding the accusations, while NHL teams are more likely to consider the optics.

“They operate a lot like businesses or corporations these days,” he said. “They're going to look at how a player's history is going to affect the sponsorship organizations at the club level as well as at the NHL level. Also, the community relations that clubs have with their community are important.

“And what the impact of all this would be on their ticket sales. Those would be the kind of things that they'd be looking at.”

Mac Ross, a fellow at Saint Mary's University who researches sport and communication, said American teams are more likely to consider signing a player than in Canada, where the story has been under a sharper spotlight.

“They'd face a lot more scrutiny from the Canadian public,” he said. “I think they probably could play again. And especially if you consider that the vast majority of the NHL is in the United States, there's a pretty significant cultural shift going on down there where the rights of women are under attack.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press