Michael McLeod, one of 5 charged in Hockey Canada sex assault case, signs with Kazakhstan Full details below 👇👇
McLeod is the second player charged
With sexual assault on the 2018 world junior team to sign with the Russia-based KHL, after he was granted an “indefinite leave of absence” by the Devils in January.
Former New Jersey Devils center Michael McLeod, who was charged with sexual assault in January, has signed a one-year deal to play in the KHL.Chris O’Meara/AP
Michael McLeod, one of the five former Canadian world junior hockey players charged in January with sexual assault, has signed a one-year contract to play in the Russia-based KHL.
McLeod, 26, spent four seasons in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils from 2020 to 2024. But he was granted an “indefinite leave of absence” in January when London, Ont., police charged him in connection with the alleged assault of a woman by several Canadian players on the 2018 world junior team.
McLeod will join Barys Astana in Kazakhstan.
“Anticipating questions about the proceedings … in Canada, we would like to say that Michael did not admit guilt and will defend his interests in court,” the team said in a press release, written in Russian. “In the future, we would like to refrain from commenting.”
After a Hockey Canada gala celebrating the country’s gold medal at the 2018 world juniors in Buffalo, several players are alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman in one of the players’ hotel room. The woman, identified by her initials E.M., sued Hockey Canada — alongside the Canadian Hockey League and eight unnamed players — in 2022 for $3.55 million. The lawsuit was settled out of court but became a wide-ranging scandal when it became public.
Police in London, where the alleged assault took place, did not lay charges after it was reported to them in 2018. But they reopened their investigation in 2022, saying later that year they believed the woman was sexually assaulted. They formally laid charges in January 2024.
Alongside McLeod, police also charged Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dubé, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, Devils defenceman Cal Foote and former Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton, who was playing in Switzerland.
In statements from their lawyers, all of the players have said they are innocent.
Dubé signed in the KHL in July. Hart and Foote remain free agents.
With files from Andy Takagi