(Content warning: This story contains descriptions of alleged sexual assault.)
Carter Hart, one of the five hockey players who in July were acquitted of sexual assault stemming from a 2018 incident, is joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization, the team announced Thursday.
“Following the reinstatement decision agreed on by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association, goaltender Carter Hart will be joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization,” the team said in a statement. “The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision. We 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.”
After initially ruling in July that the five players were ineligible from returning to the NHL, the league announced in September that the players would be able to sign contracts as of Oct. 15 and be fully reinstated to play on Dec. 1.
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Hart has signed a tryout deal with the Golden Knights, which will then be converted into a standard contract reportedly worth $3.6 million over two years. He is currently able to practice and is eligible to play minor league games in the AHL beginning on Nov. 15.
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“I’m beyond grateful, excited and honored to be part of the Golden Knights,” Hart told reporters on Thursday, via Sin Bin Vegas. “It’s been a long road to get back to this point, to get back to playing the game of hockey, the game that I love. I’ve been out of the game for a year-and-a-half now. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve grown a lot and I’m just excited to move forward.
“I’ve heard nothing but great things about the city, the community, the fanbase, the organization. I got to meet a lot of people here today and I’m so excited to get the chance to play in front of them and for them and just get to show the community my true character and who I really am and what I’m about. … Everybody’s been very welcoming and I’m just looking forward to getting things rolling here, getting to work alongside all these guys, getting to know them all and continue to build on the championship culture that’s been established here in Las Vegas.”
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The 27-year-old Hart was a second-round draft pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2016. He made 218 starts between 2018 and 2024, posting a 96-93-29 record and a .906 save percentage with six shutouts. His last appearance in the NHL came during a game against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 20, 2024.
Hart, along with Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton, were found not guilty by a London, Ontario, judge after being accused dating back to a 2018 incident when the five players were in London for a gala and golf tournament in honor of their championship win as part of Canada’s world junior hockey team. A woman, known as E.M. in the trial, has alleged that the players sexually assaulted her over several hours in a hotel room after the event.
Judge Maria Carroccia started her verdict by saying that she did not find E.M.’s testimony to be “credible or reliable,” later noting that her story had inconsistencies. She also felt that prosecutors did not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, giving her the need to lean towards acquittal.
“Having found that I cannot rely upon the evidence of E.M. and then considering the evidence in this trial as a whole, I conclude that the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts before me,” the judge said earlier in the ruling.
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The case was reopened after E.M. reached an undisclosed settlement with Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League in 2022. That lawsuit had alleged that eight players, who were unnamed at the time, had been involved.
Charges were not filed until 2024, when the names of five players who were charged were revealed. Other players were involved but did not face charges, having allegedly left the hotel room before the assault took place; those players were called to the stand to testify on the night in question.
Four of the players — McLeod, Hart, Dubé and Foote — were playing in the NHL at the time that charges were filed, while Formenton was playing in Switzerland.
McLeod recently signed with Russia’s Avangard Omsk; Formenton is in his third season with HC Ambrì-Piotta of the Swiss League; while Foote and Dubé remain free agents.
