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 Dube 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 their gold-medal performance.
The players were charged in February 2024.
Hart was a star goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, but hasn’t played since the 2023-24 season. McLeod, a centre, and Foot, a defenceman, were members of the New Jersey Devils. Dube was a centre with the Calgary Flames, while Alex Formenton was a winger with the Ottawa Senators.
McLeod has spent the last two seasons playing in the Russian-based KHL, while Dube and Foote were part of the circuit in 2024-25. Court documents showed Formenton had retired, but he recently signed on in Switzerland’s top league after also playing there in 2022-23 and 2023-24
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Sexual Violence Association of Canada database.
Daly was asked at the league’s media tour about arena construction ahead of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics in Italy as the NHL prepares to return to the Games following a 12-year hiatus.
“The arena is not done,” Daly said. “It’s being worked on diligently, is what I last heard. I do think some of the dynamics with the contractor and subcontractors have changed in a positive way that has created more progress on the building from a timeline perspective.”
He added the organizing committee is expected to have access to the facility as early as the end of next month.
“They also have a test event that is scheduled for December, which will be more hockey-related and less fan-related,” Daly said. “They’re not going to be prepared to host a full building of spectators. It’ll basically be operational people and the on-ice participants.
“We’ll find out in early December how far away we are.”
Daly confirmed the NHL will hold another decentralized draft following June’s first attempt.
The event drew heavy outside criticism for a glacial first-round, but he said teams were largely happy with the process.
“While it wasn’t as overwhelming a vote as it was the first time we asked, it was still a strong majority [that] wanted to have a decentralized draft,” Daly said. “It was the first time we’ve done it, so from a production standpoint, I think there are going to be significant changes.
“It’s not going to be a 4 1/2-hour first round.”
The new collective bargaining agreement signed between the league and union will see dress-code rules relaxed for players.
Daly said changing the rules around what NHLers can wear when the arrive at arenas for games wasn’t as big an assist for the league as it was for select teams.
“Some clubs feel like they should have the ability to decide how players appear [in] the workplace,” he said. “But with respect to those clubs, the ones I’ve heard from, they understand. I don’t think it was a major issue.
“Not as big an issue as fitness testing, for instance.”
Fitness testing at NHL training camps will no longer be permitted following the 2025-26 season.
