Ottawa Senators prospect Alex Formenton has signed a professional contract to play the remainder of the 2022-23 season with HC Ambri Piotta, the Swiss club announced on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- Formenton was deemed ineligible to play in the NHL during the 2022-23 season after he failed to sign a contract with the Senators prior to a Dec. 1 deadline. The current collective bargaining agreement stipulates that all restricted free agents must have a signed contract in place by Dec. 1 — or they are unable to play in the NHL until the following season.
- Despite signing a contract in Switzerland, the Senators retain Formenton’s NHL contractual rights and he’s eligible to return for the 2023-24 NHL season — provided he signs a new contract.
- The left winger had a breakout campaign with Ottawa in 2021-22, scoring 18 goals and leading all NHL skaters with five shorthanded goals.
Backstory
Formenton was a member of Team Canada’s gold medal-winning club at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. There are currently multiple investigations into members of that team after a woman alleged she was sexually assaulted by eight players in a London, Ontario, hotel room following a Hockey Canada Foundation event in June of 2018.
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His new club referenced the Hockey Canada investigation in their press release, stating that Formenton had fully cooperated with Hockey Canada and that both sides retain the right to reevaluate their contractual relationship if new information comes to light.
The negotiations between Formenton and the Senators were enveloped in a cone of silence for several months, with neither side revealing any details about the state of the situation. In his most recent comment on the negotiations with Formenton on Nov. 7, Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said, “I think both parties know we have a Dec. 1st timeline. And from there, there is nothing else to report.”
Formenton’s agent Wade Arnott declined to publicly comment on the status of his client’s negotiations with the Senators.
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(Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie / USA Today)
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