Insider: 'A Solid Amount of Teams' Would Be Interested in Carter Hart If Cleared of Charges

With the lack of viable goalies on the free agent market, or even the trade market, teams in need between the pipes are looking for any solution they can find.

As discussed on The Big Show with Rusic & Rose this week, the verdict is coming down later this month for the five former Canadian Junior hockey players accused of sexual assault from an incident during a Hockey Canada event in 2018. Will former Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart—if proven innocent—be back on teams' radars?

Insider David Pagnotta feels he will be.

I think there are clubs from a purely hockey perspective that are keeping tabs on this... With respect to Carter Hart, he's been training and certainly would love an opportunity to re-ignite his career, providing he's able to do so. And yeah, I do think there are teams that are keeping an eye on it... I think there would be a solid amount of teams that would have interest in at least having a discussion.
Obviously, it's bigger than hockey, but... If he is cleared and he is able to resume his career, I think there will be teams that will be knocking on the door, and it's going to be a process, he hasn't played in a while... But I certainly think there'd be teams that would have interest in pursuing it.

Pagnotta was then asked if the Edmonton Oilers, who need a goalie as badly as any team out there, might be interested. And while he admitted he didn't know for sure, he said it "wouldn't surprise" him.

However, insider Jason Gregor has shot that down pretty quickly.

Any report about the Oilers having interest in Carter Hart is incorrect.

Edmonton will not be approaching him, even if he is found not guilty. #NHL
— Jason Gregor (@JasonGregor) July 12, 2025

Hart along with four other former NHLers, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton, all pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charges, and are now less than two weeks away from receiving a verdict.

Hart had a .906 save percentage in his six NHL seasons with the Flyers, with a 2.94 goals against average. He last played on Jan. 20th, 2024.