NHL teams will receive cap relief for four players on leave due to sexual assault charges

The National Hockey League has informed the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers and Calgary Flames they will receive cap relief for the absences of the four players on leave due to sexual assault charges as part of the London Police investigation into the alleged assault at London, Ont. hotel in the summer of 2018.

Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the Devils, the Flames’ Dillon Dube and Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers – all members of Canada’s entry at the 2018 World Junior Hockey Championships – have each been charged with one count of sexual assault, London Police confirmed on Monday. The 26-year-old McLeod also faces an additional sexual assault charge.

The Flames granted the 25-year-old Dube a leave of absence on Jan. 21. Dube is in the final season of a three-year, $6.9 million deal with a $2.3 million cap hit. He is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

Hart, 25, was granted a leave of absence from the Flyers on Jan. 25. He is in the final year of a three-year, $11.937 million deal with a $3.979 million cap hit. He is also poised to become a RFA at season’s end.

McLeod and Foote, 25, requested and were granted leaves by the Devils on Jan. 24. McLeod was playing on a one-year, $1.4 million deal, while Foote was in the midst of a one-year, $800,000 deal. Like Dube and Hart, the Devils duo is also slated to hit restricted free agency on July 1.