The Senators have reportedly given up the NHL playing rights to Alex Formenton.
According to Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, who quoted league sources, Formenton was removed from the club’s free agent list last month after Stephen Halliday was re-signed.
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So that means Formenton’s status flips from restricted to unrestricted free agent.
That probably doesn’t change a lot for the 26-year-old, whose NHL rights could have been acquired from the Sens for even the smallest of compensation.
Formenton was one of five players involved in a sexual assault trial that concluded last summer. All five were declared not guilty on all charges, and the judge stated in her findings that she did not find the complainant’s evidence to be “credible or reliable.”
The Senators announced last year that they wouldn’t be bringing Formenton back and set about trying to trade his rights. But he hasn’t played an NHL game in four years and now seems quite comfortable playing in Switzerland, putting up 23 points in 42 games this season.
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Formenton is truly one of the game’s fastest skaters and was chosen with the 2017 second-round pick the Senators got when they traded Curtis Lazar to Calgary. While Formenton played in parts of four seasons with the Sens, he only played one full NHL season. He scored 18 goals and 32 points in 79 games in 2021-22.
After being cleared of all charges, Formenton, Dillon Dube, Michael McLeod, and Cal Foote were then cleared to play by the NHL, but only Carter Hart has found NHL work again, helping lead the Vegas Golden Knights to within two victories of the Stanley Cup this spring.
By Steve Warne
The Hockey News
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