Devils, Flames, Flyers get cap relief for players on leave during 2018 World Junior criminal proceedings
In the ongoing saga involving the 2018 Canadian World Junior Championship team, three National Hockey League teams are going to be getting relief for the players that are facing charges.
On Monday, the league announced that the Philadelphia Flyers, New Jersey Devils and Calgary Flames will be getting relief on their salary caps during the sexual assault case.
The Devils’ Michael McLeod and Cal Foote, Dillon Dube of the Flames and Flyers goaltender Carter Hart have been charged with sexual assault in connection to an incident that happened in London, Ontario in June 2018.
They are four of the five players that are being charged in a case that was initially closed in 2019. Former Ottawa Senator Alex Formention, who was playing in Switzerland, joins them after being placed on indefinite leave from their respective teams.
Hart is in the final year of a three-year contract with an AAV of $3.979 million. Dube will become a free agent after this season, the last of a three-year deal with a cap hit of $2.3 million. McLeod will is on a one-year contract with the Devils, with a $1.4 million AAV, while teammate Foote is making $800,000 on his one-year deal.
As a result, the Devils have $423,644 of cap space, while the Flames have $74,872 of room and the Flyers of just a hair under $200,000 of space. All three teams are using various levels of LTIR.
On Monday, London Police Services provided an update on the findings of their investigations. They could not provide any details on how the five players were involved, but did release the charges players were facing.
After an initial court appearance Monday morning, the court proceedings for the case have been adjourned to April 30. All five players were released on undertakings.
During NHL All-Star Weekend, commissioner Gary Bettman told the media the league will “await the conclusion of the judicial proceedings” before making a decision on the future of the players.