Awaiting sexual assault trial in 2025, Michael McLeod signs with second KHL team
Former NHL center Michael McLeod’s KHL journey is continuing after all. In October, McLeod was one of seven North American players bought out of their contracts by Barys Astana, which was mired in last place in the KHL. On Tuesday, the KHL announced that McLeod had signed with Avansgard Omsk for the rest of the 2024-25 season.
McLeod, 26, had three goals and six points in 16 games with Barys Astana. It remains to be seen what becomes of his hockey career after the KHL season, however.
On April 22, 2025, McLeod will begin standing trial for sexual assault along with four other members of the 2018 Canadian World Junior team. McLeod is charged with two counts of sexual assault, including one for aiding others in committing a sexual assault. Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton and Carter Hart are charged with one count apiece. The trial is expected to take up to eight weeks.
In June of 2018, the accused were in London, Ont., to celebrate their 2018 World Junior gold medal win with their teammates. After the Hockey Canada event, members of the team kept the celebration going, and some attended Jack’s, a bar in downtown London, where they met the victim. In the early morning hours of June 19, she went to the Delta London Armouries Hotel with one of the accused, where the alleged assault took place.
London Police initially investigated the alleged sexual assault from June 2018 to February 2019 and closed the case without charges, “as it was determined by investigators at that time that there were insufficient grounds to lay a charge,” said London Police Chief Thai Truong during a February 2024 press conference.
A comprehensive review was initiated in July 2022, however, after the alleged victim filed a civil suit in court, which TSN reported in May 2022 was quietly settled by Hockey Canada for $3.55 million dollars.
The review involved “re-examining additional investigative steps, gathering additional evidence and obtaining new information,” Truong said. As a result, London Police found sufficient evidence to charge five men with sexual assault. The five former NHL players surrendered to police last January.
Formenton was already out of the NHL and playing in Europe by the time he was named as one of the accused. Each of the other four was still an NHLer at the time and a restricted free agent in summer 2024, and none was re-signed by his team. McLeod and Dube are playing in the KHL now, while Foote is playing in the Slovak Extraliga.
McLeod was selected 12th overall by the New Jersey Devils in Round 1 of the 2016 NHL Draft. He amassed 29 goals and 85 points in 287 games with the team.