Has Alex Formenton earned a return to NHL with on-ice play?

It appears the Edmonton Oilers are no longer interested in good public relations. After they hired the scandal-ridden Mike Babcock to be their head coach earlier this offseason, the Oilers have doubled-down on controversial additions, signing forward Alex Formenton to a one-year, $850,000 contract on Wednesday.

Formenton, 26, was one of five members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior team that were charged with sexual assault stemming from a 2018 incident in London, Ontario. The players were ultimately found not guilty in July of 2025. At first glance, it seems that the Oilers are giving a second chance to an NHL-caliber player that was shunned due to off-ice concerns, but his on-ice play of late, including three seasons in the top Swiss league, hasn’t exactly demanded a return to the NHL.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton discussed whether Formenton’s play in Europe has shown he belongs in the NHL.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The last time he was in the NHL, Hutts, he was good. He scored 18 goals that season. His last few years in the Swiss league have been bad. I think he was like 80th in scoring in the league. When you look at these (NHL) numbers, you go “Whoa, the Oilers might have gotten themselves a really good player here.” He hasn’t played in the NHL in basically five years, and I was talking with a couple of people who watched him in the Swiss league, and it wasn’t good. He finished fifth on his team in scoring in the Swiss league. He has half as many as Jesse Puljujarvi last season in the Swiss league.

I get people want to ring the bell of second chances or whatever. I also just don’t really love when teams seem to be giving guys opportunities almost as a way to be like “because of what happened, he deserves to be here.” Do you get what I’m saying? He doesn’t feel like a guy who with his play in the Swiss league is banging down the door to get a second chance in the NHL.

Carter Hutton: I get that vibe, too, for sure. I would assume the scouting and staff that went into this decision gets that. I guess the hope would be on the other side of it, is the potential to be good in the NHL is different than the Swiss league in the style of play. I always felt this way with goalies, not necessarily players, is the translation from a European game to an NHL game is a lot different. I think because of those numbers we looked at from 2021-22 with the 18 goals, it probably buys him this chance to get an opportunity with a low risk. But it does draw a lot of attention to the Edmonton Oilers, as usual.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Wednesday’s episode here…