Carter Hart to become UFA after Flyers don't issue qualifying offer

PHILADELPHIA (CBS/AP) -- The Philadelphia Flyers didn't issue a qualifying offer for goaltender Carter Hart to retain his rights, which will make him an unrestricted free agent on Monday, the team announced .

Hart, 25, was among five players charged with sexual assault in February in the 2018 Hockey Canada investigation. He only played in 26 games for the Flyers last season and took an indefinite leave of absence from the team in January.

Hart, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames and former NHL player Alex Formenton were charged with sexually assaulting a woman in 2018 after a Hockey Canada Foundation fundraising gala. The five players were members of the 2018 U-20 Team Canada team.

Lawyers for all five players have said their clients are not guilty and will defend themselves against the allegations. The players surrendered to London, Ontario, police after the news broke.

Hart's attorneys Megan Savard and Riaz Sayani, Toronto-based criminal defense lawyers with Savard Foy LLP, said in a statement, "We act for Carter Hart and confirm he has been charged with one count of sexual assault. He is innocent and will provide a full response to this false allegation in the proper forum, a court of law. Until then, we have no comment."

The case has shadowed Canadian hockey for years.

A woman sued Hockey Canada in 2022, alleging she was sexually assaulted in a hotel room by eight members of Canada's world junior team after a fundraising gala in London in June 2018. Hockey Canada settled the lawsuit, and then an investigation revealed the organization had two secret slush funds to pay out settlements on claims of sexual assault and abuse.

London police dropped their investigation in 2019 but began another internal investigation in July 2022. Around the same time, the NHL launched its own investigation, though the results of that likely will not be released until the legal case is resolved.

Hart made 25 starts for the Flyers in the 2023-24 season. He went 12-9-3 in his sixth NHL season. In total, he played 227 total games for the Flyers, including 218 starts.

Hart, a Sherwood Park, Alberta, native, was a second-round pick by the Flyers in the 2016 NHL draft.