On Wednesday, HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss National League announced it has granted forward Alex Formenton an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons and allowed him to return to Canada.
Formenton, 24, was a 2017 second-round pick of the Ottawa Senators and a veteran of 109 NHL games with them. He currently is on their reserve list and has not played an NHL game since the 2021-22 season, when he was last signed before becoming a restricted free agent that summer.
On Wednesday morning, it was reported that five members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior Championship team have been ordered to surrender to London Police and face charges for the alleged sexual assault of a woman in London in 2018 following a team celebration. London police had closed the investigation in 2019 but reopened it in 2022 in the wake of reporting that Hockey Canada had reached a settlement with the alleged victim for millions of dollars after she filed a civil lawsuit against them.
While no charges have yet been laid and no players named, Formenton is the third member of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team in the last three days to take a leave of absence from his current pro team. The Calgary Flames’ Dillon Dube took an indefinite leave of absence on Sunday to deal with his mental health, and Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Carter Hart took an indefinite leave of absence Tuesday for personal reasons.
As of this time, it is not yet known when the five accused 2018 Team Canada players have been ordered to surrender to London Police, though the Globe and Mail reports they have been given a set time. The NHL told Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli this week that its own investigation into the 2018 allegations remains ongoing and that no punishments will be doled out until the London Police investigation wraps.
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