Formenton asks court to set aside arbitrator's decision in fight with Newport Sports

Former Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton has asked a judge to set aside an arbitration decision that dismisses his claims of negligence, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty against player agency Newport Sports Management Inc. and Wade Arnott, his former agent.

Formenton’s attorney, Jason Squire of the Toronto law firm Lerners LLP, filed a notice of application making the request on Feb. 10 in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, roughly a month after arbitrator James A. Gross dismissed Formenton’s claims as limitations barred on Jan. 13.

While Newport and Arnott have argued the National Hockey League Players’ Association's internal arbitration process should be honoured, Formenton has argued that the public courts are the proper venue for the dispute because Newport and Arnott were negotiating on behalf of Formenton after their contract with him had expired – meaning the NHLPA's regulations are moot.

An Ontario Superior Court judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on Jan. 22, 2026, to hear arguments on Newport and Arnott’s request to stay the $20.5-million lawsuit Formenton has filed against them.

Formenton is also one of five one-time National Hockey League players charged by police in London, Ont., with sexual assault in connection with an alleged incident in the summer of 2018 following a Hockey Canada golf and gala event.

His fight with Newport and Arnott dates back to June 2024, when his legal representatives delivered a notice of arbitration over how the agency handled his negotiations with the Senators.

Formenton, who is now 25, alleges that he suffered income loss for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 NHL seasons, plus future income arising from lost playing time in the NHL, because of Arnott and Newport’s misconduct.

He asked a court to award him $20 million in damages and a further $500,000 in punitive damages because of Newport’s “bad faith and high-handed conduct.”

Formenton’s allegations have not been tested in court. Neither Newport Sports founder Don Meehan nor Arnott responded to requests for comment.

Newport, which is based in Toronto, is the largest agency in the NHL. Some of its high-profile clients include Connor Bedard, Erik Karlsson, Brad Marchand, and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk.

Formenton was the Senators’ second-round selection in the 2017 NHL draft. At the time, he was 17 and signed a Standard Player-Agent Contract (SPAC) with Newport, with Arnott, Meehan and agent Pat Morris as guarantors. According to his February notice of application, Formenton signed a SPAC with Arnott and Newport Sports on Aug. 1, 2017, that expired on July 12, 2022.

For his first three seasons as a professional, Formenton mostly played with the Ontario Hockey League’s London Knights and with the Senators’ American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville, Ont. He established himself as an NHL regular in Ottawa in 2021-22, a season in which he scored 18 goals and tied for the league lead with five shorthanded goals.

According to Formenton’s lawsuit, the Senators presented Formenton with a qualifying offer in July of 2022, after his entry-level deal expired, worth $787,500 (U.S.), which he rejected.

Formenton alleges in his lawsuit that after he contacted Arnott in July 2022 and asked for advice on how to proceed, Arnott failed to advise him that by accepting the qualifying offer Formenton could enter negotiations in January 2023 for a new, third contract, commencing with the 2023-24 season.

Arnott and Newport also did not advise Formenton that the qualifying offer could be extended past July 15, 2022, if there was an agreement with the Senators, the lawsuit alleges, adding that Arnott and Newport did not request that the Senators’ offer be extended.

“Arnott and Newport apparently relied on being able to negotiate with Ottawa during the summer and fall of 2022 without the qualifying offer in place or extended, advising Alex that he could expect Ottawa to negotiate a favourable player contract,” Formenton’s notice of application reads. “Arnott assured Alex that it was ‘business as usual.’”

In June 2024, Formenton began arbitration proceedings against Newport and Arnott and a month later, Newport and Arnott offered their defence against his claims, saying that the National Hockey League Players’ Association’s agent regulations say that a player only has six months after a dispute to make a claim against an agent.

Formenton wrote in his February notice of application that neither he nor his father, Jim, were ever shown a copy of the NHLPA’s regulations and were not made aware that the regulations contained a clause that would purport to require Formenton to give notice within six months of any grievance against his agent.

Formenton filed a lawsuit against Newport and Arnott in October, further alleging that the NHLPA’s agent regulations don’t apply to his claim because Arnott and Newport purportedly continued negotiating on Formenton’s behalf after his SPAC expired.  

In January 2024, Formenton, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, and Cal Foote were charged with sexual assault. All five players were members of Canada's 2018 World Juniors team and are accused of sexually assaulting a woman referred to in court documents as E.M., following a golf and gala event in London in June 2018.

All five players are expected to plead not guilty at trial and have requested to have their cases heard by a judge and jury. An eight-week trial has been set to begin on April 22, 2025.

In a series of court documents filed this spring, after some of the defendants asked for permission to leave Canada before the trial for training and work purposes, Formenton wrote in an affidavit that he is living in the Barrie, Ont., area, working in the construction industry and training both in heavy equipment operation and administration.