Report: Five players facing charges connected to 2018 sexual assault investigation

Five players whose rights are owned by NHL teams are facing charges stemming from a London, Ontario police investigation into an alleged 2018 sexual assault involving members of the Canadian men’s national junior team, TSN’s Rick Westhead reports Tuesday. Per Westhead, Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, Devils center Michael McLeod, Devils defenseman Cal Foote, and Flames winger Dillon Dubé have been directed to surrender to London police.

Senators forward prospect Alex Formenton, who has not been under contract with the team since 2022, is the fifth player facing charges and surrendered himself to London police Sunday, according to his attorneys.

Robyn Doolittle of The Globe and Mail first reported last week that five players had been told to surrender to police to face charges connected to the 2018 incident. Neither the NHL nor the Flyers, Devils, Flames, or Senators have released statements on the matter.

As Ian Mendes and Chris Johnston of The Athletic outlined Tuesday, discipline for players involved in off-ice misconduct falls under the jurisdiction and discretion of league commissioner Gary Bettman. If league action is taken against any of the five players named, they have the right to file an appeal with an independent arbitrator.

It is unclear whether the Flyers, Devils and Flames have the jurisdiction to terminate the standard player’s contracts of Hart, McLeod, Foote, and Dubé, given the definition of a material breach of the contract is not expressly defined.

All four players remain on indefinite leaves of absence from their respective teams. Formenton is on an indefinite leave of absence from HC Ambrì-Piotta in the Swiss National League, where he’s contracted for the 2023-24 season.

The London Police Service is expected to hold a press conference next Monday to comment further on the charges. Attorneys for Hart, McLeod, Foote, and Dubé did not respond to or declined requests for comment from Westhead.