One acquitted player in 2018 WJC trial linked to yet another alleged sexual assault

When the verdicts came in and that the five players accused in the 2018 World Juniors sexual assault case were all found Not Guilty, a lot of speculation emerged about what would be next for them and if they would have another shot at professional hockey. The NHL declared the players currently ineligible to play in the league, saying that Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Alex Formenton, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote would be ineligible to play despite the players being found not guilty of all charges in an encounter with a woman in a hotel room seven years ago, though the NHLPA issued a strong response to the ban, saying that its players should “have the opportunity to return to work”.

Michael Russo of the Athletic recently reported that “ there are certainly NHL executives with interest in signing some of the players,” with a focus on players like Hart, Dube and McLeod.

However, the latter might have to deal with another case of alleged sexual assault before he can focus once again on hockey.

When the verdicts came in, some fans reposted on social media articles from TSN’s Rick Westhead of TSN that Peel Regional Police are investigating an alleged sexual assault from 2014 that involved eight Ontario Hockey League (OHL) players. According to Westhead, the investigation is centering around the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads. Allegations of the 2014 assault were originally brought to light in October of 2024, but a team or players was not revealed. With the name of the club exposed this past spring, fans and insiders found out that McLeod, at the time 16 years old, was on the Steelheads roster that season. The Steelheads recently moved to Brampton ahead of the 2024-25 season.

The victim, who was 22 at the time, revealed the explicit details of the alleged assault to Westhead, noting she was in a consensual relationship with a 19-year-old player with the Steelheads for about six months when he invited her to watch TV with one of his teammates at his billet home, where he lived during the hockey season. She said that when she visited the player and went with him into the basement, there were eight players there. After the 19-year-old player took her into the bathroom, they started fooling around. What began as a consensual act became a group sexual assault. She did not tell her family what had happened until she watched a press conference in which London’s chief of police apologized to a different woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by former Canadian world junior players in 2018.

McLeod, who has not been named or identified in this 2014 lawsuit, could be called as a witness though, on social media, he was trending for the wrong reasons seeing he had to face charges and trial for he 2018 World Juniors sexual assault.

Some wonder if that could hinder his return to the NHL, more than Hart, Dube, Formenton and Foote.

With the NHLPA currently fighting against the league’s ban at this time, we could see one or more of the acquitted players back in the NHL, and you have to wonder if McLeod will be able to get a contract with all the chatter surrounding him.