Carter Hart is expected to start in goal for the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, his first NHL game since the league reinstated him and four other players after their acquittal last summer on sexual assault charges.
Hart’s last NHL start came on Jan. 20, 2024, for the Philadelphia Flyers, shortly before he, Michael McLeod, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote were charged in an alleged incident in 2018 in London, Ontario.
The five members of Canada’s 2018 IIHF World Juniors team were found not guilty in July by an Ontario judge of assaulting a 20-year-old woman in a hotel room during a Hockey Canada gala to celebrate the team’s gold medal in the tournament.
Monday was the first day the players were eligible to play in an NHL game under the league’s reinstatement ruling, and the Golden Knights called up Hart on Sunday from the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights after a three-game conditioning stint.
Hart is the only one of the five under contract with an NHL team, having signed a two-year, $4 million deal Oct. 24, eight days after joining the Golden Knights on a professional tryout.
Foote, a defenseman, signed an AHL contract Monday with the Chicago Wolves; McLeod signed a three-year deal in October with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk; and Formenton has played for HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss Hockey League since 2022. Dubé has not played this season after joining the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk in 2024-25.
The Golden Knights received criticism for their immediate interest in Hart — his tryout began one day after the five players were allowed to sign with NHL teams — and they kicked out and revoked the credentials of Mark Lazerus, a senior NHL writer for The Athletic, for asking a player about the five acquitted players.
Hart spoke to the media after signing his tryout deal and expressed gratitude to play for Vegas and recognized the “long road to get back to this point and get back to playing the game of hockey.”
“I’ve learned a lot, I’ve grown a lot and I’m just excited to move forward,” Hart said. “I’m so excited to get the chance to play in front of (the fans) and for them and get to show the community my true character.”
The Golden Knights said in a statement at the time that they “are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision” and “remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.”
Hart went 1-2-0 during his AHL stint with a 3.09 goals-against average, .839 save percentage, and 47 saves. The 27-year-old was a quality goaltender for the Flyers to begin his career with a 96-93-29 record, 2.94 GAA, .906 save percentage and six shutouts.
The high-profile case included a lawsuit settlement, reopened investigations by police, parliamentary hearings, an NHL investigation and a mistrial declared by Justice Maria Carroccia in April. The reason for the mistrial wasn’t revealed because of a publication ban, and the initial 14-person jury was dismissed.
Due to the mistrial, Carroccia was left with the verdict, and she ruled that the accuser lacked the credibility needed to justify the charges.
Her detailed reasoning for the acquittal included the complainant’s “tendency to blame others” for inconsistencies in her allegations and that the woman’s claims of being drunk weren’t supported by video evidence at the hotel and bar or the testimony of others.
The NHL had begun an investigation into the incident in 2022, but it was halted when the five players were criminally charged. The league said in a Sept. 11 statement that it expects players to “conduct themselves with the highest level of moral integrity” and, while not found to be criminal, the players’ actions “did not meet that standard.”
“In relying on both our own investigation, and the conclusions reached by Justice Carroccia in her opinion, and the players’ acquittal, the League has determined that the conduct at issue falls woefully short of the standards and values that the League and its Member Clubs expect and demand,” the league said in its statement.
“Each of the players, based on in-person meetings with the League following the verdicts, expressed regret and remorse for his actions. Nevertheless, we believe their conduct requires formal League-imposed discipline.”
The league took into account the 20 months the players already missed and ruled that they had to wait until Oct. 15 to sign an NHL contract and until Dec. 1 to play in an NHL game.