Former Flyers goalie Carter Hart will seek 'a fresh start' with another team

Jackie Spiegel, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 16, 2025

Published in Hockey

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PHILADELPHIA — The door is officially closed on Carter Hart’s return to Philly, Danny Brière says.

“The only comment I’ll make on that is that his representative, Judd Moldaver, has reached out and kind of told us that in light of everything that happened in the last year and a half with Carter, they felt, and Carter felt, that it was better for them to look for a fresh start,” the Flyers general manager said Tuesday during his annual preseason press conference.

“So that’s where it’s at, and it’s the only comment I’m going to make on it.”

The NHL announced Thursday that Hart, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Michael McLeod, all of whom were acquitted on sexual assault charges in Canada, will be suspended through Dec. 1. Teams cannot sign them to contracts until Oct. 15.

“The events that transpired after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario, prior to these players’ arrival in the NHL, were deeply troubling and unacceptable,” the NHL said in a statement regarding the suspensions.

“The league expects everyone connected with the game to conduct themselves with the highest level of moral integrity. And, in this case, while found not to have been criminal, the conduct of the players involved certainly did not meet that standard.”

Last Wednesday, before the league disclosed its suspension, Flyers governor Dan Hilferty and president Keith Jones declined to comment when asked about the goalie’s future with the organization.

“The NHL has made it clear they’ll speak first, but right now, we’re not prepared to comment at all about the Carter Hart situation,” Hilferty said. “The NHL has told us they are running the show.”

Hart, 27, has not played an NHL game since Jan. 20, 2024, three days before he took “an indefinite leave of absence citing personal reasons” from the Flyers. The next day, the Globe and Mail in Toronto reported that the then-unnamed Hockey Canada players allegedly involved in a sexual assault in Ontario in June 2018 had been ordered to turn themselves in to police. A week later, Hart was charged, according to his lawyers. The defendants were acquitted in July.

In June 2024, Hart’s contract with the Flyers expired. A restricted free agent, he was not issued a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent. Dubé, McLeod and Foote were also on expiring contracts and did not receive qualifying offers. All can be signed beginning next month, including Formenton, who spent parts of the last three seasons playing in Switzerland.

A second-round draft pick in 2016, Hart was viewed as a cornerstone piece for the franchise. He went 96-93-29 with a 2.94 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 227 games. In his last NHL season, the native of Sherwood Park, Alberta, was 12-9-3 with a .906 save percentage. He wound up playing six seasons with the Flyers.