Insider Reveals Edmonton Oilers' Intentions On Potential Carter Hart Pursuit

Carter Hart, former NHL goalie, recently acquitted of sexual assault charges, will not be pursued by the Edmonton Oilers

The big ruling came down last week in London, Ontario: Five former NHL players were acquitted on sexual assault charges arising from an incident at a Hockey Canada event in 2018 during the World Junior Championships.

Among those players, the most notable is goaltender Carter Hart, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers. Hart had proven himself as a very capable starting netminder in the league, and we do know that there are a number of teams in need of help between the pipes.

The Edmonton Oilers are one of those teams, and they've been linked to potentially pursuing Hart. But according to a new report on Tuesday from insider Frank Seravalli of Bleacher Report, the Oilers will most certainly not have any interest in signing the acquitted soon-to-be 27-year-old.

Carter Hart is a "non-starter" for the Edmonton Oilers as the five former Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault remain ineligible to play in the NHL (w/ @frank_seravalli) pic.twitter.com/4FNDVaYRAA
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 29, 2025

"I was told that Carter Hart is a non-starter for the Edmonton Oilers, and, beyond that, he's a non-starter for everyone right now coming off his acquittal.

Is Carter Hart eligible to play in the NHL?

"Him and the other four former NHL players have been labelled by the NHL as ineligible, and they're going to continue to review the file before determining next steps in the commissioner's office. Until they are cleared to play, it's not even really a conversation worth having, even though the NHLPA has strongly voiced their objection to how the NHL has viewed this situation."

One key point to keep in mind here, as far as the Oilers are concerned, is that their general manager, Stan Bowman, was the GM of the Chicago Blackhawks during the Kyle Beach sexual assault scandal. Bowman was only reinstated by the NHL last year after resigning from the Blackhawks in 2021 and remaining out of hockey for three years.

Hart, along with Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton, were all found not guilty in the highly-publicized trial. But the union's dispute with the league over the players' eligibility immediately became an issue.

Jonathan Bailey in The Hockey News points to McLeod's KHL coach, Alexey Sopin of Avangard Omsk, saying he expects the NHL & the Players Association to come to a resolution on the futures of the 'Hockey Canada Five' before too long:

"I can’t give an exact date – we’ll wait a week or two. From our contacts with Michael, his agents and North American hockey specialists, we understand that the league will not delay the decision, and they should release it in the next week or two," Sopin told Championat.

We'll all be watching closely. But according to Seravalli, and fellow insider Jason Gregor, don't expect to see Hart tending goal for Edmonton anytime soon.