Cal Foote has signed an American Hockey League contract with the Chicago Wolves, becoming the fourth of five players acquitted in the high-profile sexual assault trial involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team to resume his professional career.
The team announced the deal with the 26-year-old defenseman on Monday.
He joins goaltender Carter Hart, who signed with the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights in mid-October, and forward Michael McLeod, who secured a three-year deal with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk. McLeod, who was also found not guilty of an additional charge of being party to the offense, played for the same Russian club last season. A fourth player, Alex Formenton, has played for HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss Hockey League since 2022.
The fifth player, winger Dillon Dube, 27, spent the 2023-24 season with the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk but has not signed with a team for the current season.
All players except Formenton were active in the NHL when they were charged in January 2024 in connection with a 2018 incident in London, Ontario. At the time, Foote and McLeod were with the New Jersey Devils, Hart was with the Philadelphia Flyers, and Dube was with the Calgary Flames.
Following the charges, their respective NHL teams did not extend qualifying offers, making the players free agents. In September, the league announced the players would be eligible to sign new contracts on October 15 and return to play on December 1. Hart is eligible to make his debut for Vegas as soon as Tuesday.
The NHL launched its own investigation into the allegations when they first came to light in 2022.
Foote, a former first-round draft pick (14th overall) by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2017, has recorded five goals and 15 assists in 145 career NHL games.
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