Former NHLer Cal Foote signs with Slovakian pro team

Former NHL defenseman Cal Foote signed a one-year deal with HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas in Slovakia, the team announced Wednesday.

Foote is one of the five former NHLers facing sexual assault charges over an alleged incident that took place in June 2018 in London, Ont. The five players were in London to celebrate their 2018 World Junior Championship gold medal.

Last June, reports indicated that a resolution to the case is not remotely close, and a trial won’t likely begin until April 2025.

The NHL maintains that there will be no discipline meted out to the five accused players — Foote, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube and Alex Formenton — until the criminal case is resolved. All but Formenton were restricted free agents going into the 2024 offseason, and their respective clubs did not give them qualifying offers, making them unrestricted free agents.

The 25-year-old Foote last played in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils in 2023-24, as well as the AHL’s Utica Comets. In four NHL seasons, Foote had five goals and 15 assists for 20 points in 145 regular-season games with the Devils, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Foote has also played in 13 career Stanley Cup Playoff games. Despite not appearing in a playoff game during the Lightning’s 2021 Stanley Cup run, Foote’s name was added to the trophy.

Foote also scored 20 goals and 53 assists for 73 points in 179 regular-season AHL games across six seasons with the Comets and Syracuse Crunch.

Taken No. 17 overall by the Lightning in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Foote spent three seasons playing with the Western Hockey League’s Kelowna Rockets, scoring 33 goals and 130 assists for 163 points in 202 regular-season games. Ahead of the 2017-18 season, he was named captain of the Rockets.