The Vegas Golden Knights announced on Thursday that goalkeeper Carter Hart will join the team. The decision makes him the only one of five players acquitted in the high-profile Hockey Canada sexual assault trial to rejoin the NHL.
In July, a judge found Hart and four of his Canadian World Junior Championships teammates not guilty of sexual assault. The allegations stemmed from a 2018 incident in a London, Ont. hotel room.
Immediately following the verdict, the NHL called the allegations “very disturbing” and the players’ behavior “unacceptable,” and said it would be reviewing the judge’s findings. In September, the league said the players, four of whom were on NHL rosters shortly before charges were announced, could formally sign with teams starting Wednesday and return to game play in the NHL on Dec. 1. (Hart can take the ice for the Golden Knights’ AHL team in Henderson starting Nov. 15.)
“The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision,” the team said in a statement announcing Hart. “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.”
Hart, 27, previously spent his NHL career with the Flyers. Philadelphia drafted him 48th overall in 2016 and called him up in 2018, six months after the alleged sexual assault. His last game for the Flyers was in January 2024, shortly before London police announced charges against the five players.
Although the judge acquitted Hart and the four other defendants, fans have protested the notion of any of the players rejoining the NHL. Carolina’s rumored interest in both Hart and defendant Michael McLeod, as well as Vegas’s interest in the goalkeeper, sparked social media backlash, with fans sending emails to season ticket representatives, and creating Change.org petitions. Close to 2,000 people signed the petition urging Vegas not to sign Hart. It is still up and gathering signatures as of this writing.
“Despite being found not guilty, Carter Hart does not represent the values and morals that the Golden Knights organization proudly stands by, and makes sexual violence victims feel like this is an environment they cannot be [a part] of,” the petition against signing Hart reads.
Last week, McLeod signed a three-year contract with a Russian team in the Kontinental Hockey League. Alex Formenton, who spent time in the NHL but was not rostered immediately preceding the charges, signed a deal through December in the Swiss National League. Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote, whose father Adam is the new head coach in Vancouver, have not yet been linked to any teams.
The Golden Knights had two goalkeepers on the roster before announcing Hart’s signing, one of whom, Adin Hill, was injured in Tuesday night’s game against Calgary.
Following the announcement, pushback on social media was swift. Several fans condemned the signing, with one calling Vegas’s decision a “slap in the face.” Another fan wrote, “The thing that hurts most abt the Carter Hart signing is that another fanbase stood up and said no and we couldn’t do the same,” referencing the uproar from Hurricanes fans that ultimately factored into Carolina declining to sign either Hart or McLeod.
