Edmonton Oilers sign 2018 world junior player Alex Formenton to one

The Edmonton Oilers have signed forward Alex Formenton to a one-year contract worth US$850,000, the NHL team said Wednesday.

Formenton was one of five players from Canada’s 2018 world junior team who were acquitted last year on sexual assault charges stemming from an encounter with a woman known as “E.M.” after a Hockey Canada gala that year in London, Ont.

The NHL a year ago reinstated all five players, allowing them to play beginning Dec. 1, 2025.

Carter Hart signed with Vegas and backstopped the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup final last spring before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. Dillon Dube, a forward, signed with the St. Louis Blues in July.

An independent appeal board ruled last month that the players breached the Hockey Canada code of conduct, but Formenton was the only one eligible for immediate reinstatement from suspension from Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs.

The board recommended continued bans for Hart, Dube, Cal Foote and Michael McLeod.

McLeod will not be eligible for reinstatement until Nov. 10, 2030. Foote will be eligible on Nov. 10, while Hart and Dube will be eligible on that day in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Formenton, a 26-year-old native of Barrie, Ont., was selected by Ottawa in the second round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He recorded 23 goals and 16 assists over 109 career games with the Senators.

Formenton spent three of the past four seasons playing in Switzerland (for HC Ambri-Piotta) and the other not in hockey at all.

McLeod, meanwhile, is under contract in the KHL.

Foote played last season with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves and recently had a one-year contract with Farjestad BK rescinded when the Swedish club received criticism for the signing.

With files from The Associated Press.