Report: Senators cut ties with RFA Alex Formenton
The Ottawa Senators have officially cut ties with winger Alex Formenton, according to Ottawa Citizen reporter Bruce Garrioch.
From the Ottawa Citizen: Senators cut ties with Alex Formenton, making winger an unrestricted free agent ottawacitizen.com/ottawa-senator… via @ottawacitizen
Formenton has been a restricted free agent for the past four seasons after the conclusion of his entry-level contract in 2022. The Senators had been shopping his rights to other teams, but never found a suitor, and have now officially removed him from their free agent list, doing so on May 8th when they re-signed Stephen Halliday. Sens GM Steve Staios and Formenton’s agent Darren Ferris agreed last summer that a change of scenery was best for the winger. He will now be an unrestricted free agent and able to sign with any team without the required offer sheet that would have been needed as an RFA with Ottawa.
Formenton was one of five players charged with alleged sexual assault regarding a case involving the 2018 Canadian World Junior team at a celebratory gala in the summer of 2018. All five players were suspended from league play, and unable to participate until the trial was resolved, where they were legally acquitted of all charges. Formenton had been playing in Switzerland in the National League at the time, and returned upon conclusion of the trial in 2025. While then-Senators general manager Pierre Dorion never confirmed that the team’s contract stalemate with Formenton in 2018 was related to the investigation.
Formenton spent the 2025-26 season in the National League with Ambri-Piotta, where he had 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 42 games. It was his first season in a bit over a year since he was arrested, having also played with Ambri-Piotta during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons during his stalemate. Formenton also worked as a construction worker while he was suspended.
Formenton was a second-round pick of the Senators in the 2017 NHL Draft, and after playing in 10 games in the following two seasons, he needed a couple seasons in the AHL before becoming an NHL regular in 2021-22. He has 23 goals and 16 assists for 39 points in 109 games in his NHL career, but hasn’t played in the NHL in four years.