Cal Foote has inked a contract with the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League, marking him as the fourth out of five players cleared of sexual assault charges in the high-profile trial involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team to pursue his career further. The announcement of the deal with the upcoming 27-year-old defenseman was made by the team on Monday. Carter Hart, the goaltender, secured a contract with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights in mid-October right after the window opened for potential new contracts for the players. Michael McLeod, a forward who was also acquitted of an additional charge related to the offense of sexual assault, signed a three-year agreement with Avangard Omsk of the KHL back in October. McLeod had already played for the club in the previous season after initially signing with Barys Astana in Kazakhstan, a team in the Russia-based league. Alex Formenton has been active in the Swiss Hockey League with HC Ambri-Piotta since 2022 after the Ottawa Senators chose not to renew his contract. Meanwhile, Dillon Dube, a 27-year-old winger, played for the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk in Belarus during the 2024-25 season but has not seen any action this season. All the players, except Formenton, were part of NHL teams when they were accused in early 2024 in connection to an incident in London, Ont., dating back to 2018. Foote and McLeod were playing for New Jersey, Hart for Philadelphia, and Dube for Calgary at that time. Those teams did not offer qualifying contracts to the players that summer, leading them to become free agents. The league declared in September that they would be eligible to sign contracts on Oct. 15 and commence playing on Dec. 1, with Hart potentially making his debut for Vegas as soon as Tuesday.
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