It’s no surprise that the four hockey players involved in the 2018 world junior championship sexual assault case did not receive qualifying offers from their respective teams. All had left their teams when the allegations were made against them earlier this year.
Information reported by Chris Johnston. Carter Hart (PHI), Dillon Dube (CGY), Michael McLeod (NJ) and Cal Foote (NJ) therefore become unrestricted free agents and it is obvious that they will not be signed anytime soon.
Four of the Canadian World Junior Championship players facing sexual assault accusations will not receive a qualifying offer and have been released by their NHL teams: Carter Hart (PHI), Dillon Dubé (CGY), Michael McLeod (NJ) and Cal Foote (NJ). They will become free agents.
– Chris Johnston
As a trial date has not yet been set, it was up to the teams to decide whether they wanted to issue a qualifying offer before Sunday’s 5:00 p.m. deadline in order to retain these players’ NHL rights, and the Flyers, Flames and Devils all decided against it.
Had they received offers, the players in question would have continued to be paid while remaining on leave for the duration of the legal proceedings, which could extend throughout next season.
It is obvious that the teams did not want to engage with these players considering the accusations against them.
As reported by The Athletic, the NHL and the NHL Players’ Association have discussed in recent weeks the possibility of freezing the players’ status pending a trial, but have failed to agree on how to do so.
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