Flyers in hot water over attempted Carter Hart trade

News emerged on Wednesday that London Police has ordered five members of Hockey Canada’s 2018 World Juniors gold medal winning team to surrender themselves within the next two weeks. Subsequently Calgary Flames forward Dillon Dube, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart, New Jersey Devils defenseman Cal Foote and forward Michael McLeod, all members of that 2018 version of Team Canada, all took indefinite leave from their NHL teams. Additionally, former NHL forward Alex Formenton, who was playing pro hockey in Switzerland, took leave from his team as he heads back to Canada.

More chatter is surfacing as we await more details from the London police on February 5 when it will hold a press conference on the investigation. Andy Strickland has revealed how the Flyers look to trade Hart during the summer, “knowing this was eventually coming down.”

This is not a good look for the Flyers and general manager Daniel Briere, who met with members of the media on Wednesday morning for his midseason press conference, opening with a statement on his goaltender.

“We are aware of this morning’s press reports on a very serious matter,” Briere read from a prepared statement. “We will respond appropriately when the outcomes of the investigations are made public. The NHL has been very clear that teams should refer all investigation-related questions to them. In the meantime, members of the organization, including Flyers players, will not be commenting any further.”

There was trade chatter throughout the offseason about Hart, one even liking him to the Edmonton Oilers and the Toronto Maple Leafs. There was also mentions of the Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils at the time of the offseason rumours.

This could be what the chatter Strickland’s been hearing all about, which is a bad look for the Flyers. They are the ones that will need to deal with whatever comes next for Carter.

Carter is scheduled for restricted free agency and was playing, ahead of his leave of absence, the last of a three-year, $11.937 million deal and has a cap hit of $3.979 million.

However, he may be dealing with more serious matters than free agency at that point. In 26 games this season. Hart is 12-9-3 with a goals-against average of 2.80 and a .906 save percentage.

Recommended articles:

• NHL removes ability to buy jerseys from Hart, Dube, Foote and McLeod
• Full video and text message exchange between woman and one of the 5 World Juniors players
• Two more players granted indefinite leave of absences amidst WJC investigation
• All 5 players linked to the 2018 WJC investigation now revealed!
• Flyers GM Daniel Briere speaks about Carter Hart’s absence amidst London police investigation