A Hockey Canada logo is seen on the door to the organizations head office in Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Two former members of the Canadian World Junior hockey team who are awaiting trial on sexual-assault charges have signed one-year contracts to play in the Russian-based Kontinental Hockey League.
Michael McLeod and Dillon Dubé were among five players charged with sexual assault in connection with an alleged group attack of a young woman after a gala event staged in London, Ont., to celebrate members of Canada’s national junior team. Both have denied the allegations, as have three of their former teammates.
Mr. McLeod, who was most recently a centre for the New Jersey Devils, is now listed on the roster of Barys Astana, the KHL’s lone franchise in Kazakhstan. Mr. McLeod is 26 and from Mississauga.
Mr. Dubé is listed on the roster for Dinamo Minsk of Belarus. He is from Golden, B.C., and played forward for the Calgary Flames for six seasons.
The other three players charged with sexual assault were Cal Foote, also most recently a member of the NHL Devils; Carter Hart, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers; and Alex Formenton, who formerly played for the Ottawa Senators but more recently for the Swiss club, HC Amber-Piotta. Mr. McLeod also faces an additional charge of being a party to the offence of sexual assault.
The players will stand trial before a jury, though a date has yet to be set.
Who are the 2018 world junior players charged with sexual assault?
The charges against the men have yet to be tested in court and all have denied the allegations in statements through their lawyers, promising vigorous defences.
The four players in North America were placed on indefinite leaves of absence by their NHL teams and were not re-signed when their contracts expired at the end of the 2023-2024 season. Mr. Dubé was initially given leave for what the team described as mental-health reasons by the Flames before the charges were filed.
Defence attorneys for Mr. McLeod and Mr. Dubé did not respond to queries from The Globe and Mail on Wednesday, nor did their agents.
The players were each released on an undertaking while they await their trial. Stephen Hebscher, a criminal defence lawyer in Toronto, said it would not be uncommon that a defendant be allowed to travel provided they agree to abide to all other conditions.
Richard Arnold, an associate professor of political science at Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio, and an expert on Russian sports and politics, said that Russia accepting athletes from abroad is not unusual.
“It’s not the most effective way of thumbing its nose at the West, but it is a symbolic one,” Prof. Arnold said.
An initial investigation by London police was closed with no charges filed in February, 2019. It became public three years later, after TSN reported that the victim, known only by the initials E.M., had settled a $3.55-million lawsuit against Hockey Canada, the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players for an undisclosed amount. Amid public scrutiny, London police reopened their investigation.
In January, all five men charged were ordered to surrender to police. The next court date is Aug. 13 at which a trial date might be set. A backlog in cases, however, makes it unlikely that a trial could begin before next spring.
The KHL is considered the most elite league in hockey after the NHL. Many players rely on it to help extend or launch careers and it is not unusual for players from other teams to join one of the circuit’s 23 clubs.
There are currently five from Canada and the U.S. listed on Barys Astana’s roster and a half dozen listed with Dinamo Minsk.