Cal Foote signs first contract since Hockey Canada scandal.

The Hockey Canada scandal will be front and center again this week in the National Hockey League when Carter Hart makes his long anticipated debut with the Vegas Golden Knights. The return of Hart is expected to be met with controversy giving the very polarized opinions surrounding his return, but that controversy is starting a little earlier than expected.

On Monday, the Chicago Wolves announced that they had signed former NHL defenseman Cal Foote, another one of the players involved in the scandal, to a new deal. The deal is a standard NHL contract but the decision to sign Foote has already been met with some controversy.

The Wolves are the American Hockey League affiliate of the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes who are no strangers to this controversy after facing it head on earlier this year. The Hurricanes were reportedly interested in former NHL forward Michael McLeod and had even expressed that interest to the player before fan backlash caused a drastic shift in direction. Following backlash from their fans the Hurricanes made the decision not to sign McLeod, which does make today's decision to sign Foote seem a little confusing.

Although Foote has seen limited play since the scandal erupted, there is no doubt that he brings with him a wealth of experience from the NHL level. Foote has 145 career games in the NHL split between the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils with 5 goals and 15 assists for 20 career points over that span.

Foote will no doubt have to face challenges of his own as he returns to hockey in North America, but it would seem that both he and the Chicago Wolves feel that pros outweigh the cons in this particular scenario.

Let me know your thoughts on today's signing in the comments.