The Vegas Golden Knights have signed goaltender Carter Hart to a professional tryout, the club announced Thursday.
Oct. 15 was the first day Hart was eligible to sign as an unrestricted free agent, though he will not be eligible to play until Dec. 1. He is currently serving a league-imposed suspension for his involvement in the Hockey Canada scandal after being found not guilty of sexual assault in July.
“Following the reinstatement decision agreed on by the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players’ Association, goaltender Carter Hart will be joining the Vegas Golden Knights organization,” the Golden Knights said in a statement. “The Golden Knights are aligned with the process and assessment the NHL and NHLPA made in their decision. We remain committed to the core values that have defined our organization from its inception and expect that our players will continue to meet these standards moving forward.”
Vegas was considered the frontrunner to land the native of Sherwood Park, Alberta. The PTO is expected to be converted to a deal in the future, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.
From a hockey perspective, this move is pretty straightforward. It’s low-risk, especially since Hart is a former No. 1 goalie and is just 27 years old. He played parts of six seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers, who drafted him in the second round (No. 48 overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Many sources have speculated that the deal could end up being a reasonable two-year contract at around $2 million.
However, this move will draw harsh criticism from many fans due to the off-ice controversy.
Hart was one of five players — along with Michael McLeod, Dillon Dubé, Alex Formenton and Cal Foote — who recently stood trial on sexual assault charges related to an alleged incident in 2018 involving a female (known as E.M., who was 20 at the time) and members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team.
Hart and the other players, who pleaded not guilty, were acquitted of all charges on July 24. Hart was the only player to testify in his own defense. Vegas forward Brett Howden, who was a member of the 2018 team, testified in the trial but was not charged.
In her decision, the judge stated that she did not find the evidence of the complainant “credible or reliable.” She cited irregularities in E.M.’s testimony and said that “the Crown cannot meet its onus on any of the counts.” Some of the inconsistencies the judge highlighted involved differences between what E.M. reported to the police in 2018 and what she told Hockey Canada, which reached a settlement with E.M. in 2022 for an undisclosed amount.
Following the acquittal, the NHL decided that the players would be eligible to sign as free agents on Oct. 15 and would be eligible to return to action beginning Dec. 1.
The events that transpired after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in
Hart was eligible to begin to negotiate terms at the start of this month, though the PTO did not become official until Thursday. Hart is now eligible to participate in practice and other team activities.
But while Hart was found not guilty, there is bound to be public outcry over the signing.
A petition calling on the Golden Knights to pass on Hart has been circulating and had over 2,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.
A similar petition was started by the Carolina Hurricanes’ fanbase after the team was rumored to be interested in McLeod and Hart. McLeod was the primary target in the rumors, as reported by Dave Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, though the team ultimately elected not to pursue either player. The primary reason behind the team’s decision was reportedly contract disputes, though many believe that fan backlash from season ticket holders was an unofficial factor.
The Golden Knights could face considerable blowback, though Vegas has never been known to shy away from controversy, especially when it comes to improving the team’s chances of winning.
Hart’s 227 career regular-season games are more than any other goalie his age aside from Dallas’ Jake Oettinger (254). Hart is 96-93-29 with a 2.94 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and six shutouts in 227 appearances, all with Philadelphia. He is 9-5-0 with a 2.23 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and two shutouts in 14 career playoff games, all of which came in the 2019-20 postseason bubble.
Though Hart’s numbers aren’t spectacular, he never had a chance to play behind a team as deep and defensively sound as the Golden Knights.
Even so, he will have gone nearly two full calendar years between starts, as his last NHL action came on Jan. 20, 2024 (a 7-4 loss to the Avalanche). Shortly thereafter he was granted an indefinite leave of absence by the Flyers, and his contract expired on June 30, 2024.
Considering the fact that Hart was the only one of the five players who did not elect to play in Europe ahead of the trial, rust is a definite concern for the Golden Knights. That being said, Hart will have time to get up to speed in the coming weeks, and the PTO gives Vegas a chance to evaluate him.
In his first media scrum, Hart was very gracious about the opportunity to play in Las Vegas.
“I’m beyond grateful and excited and honored to be part of the Golden Knights,” he said. “It’s been a long road to get back to this point, to get back to playing the game of hockey, the game that I love. I’ve been out of the game for a year and a half now. I’ve learned a lot, I’ve grown a lot, and I’m just excited to move forward.
“I’ve heard nothing but great things about the city, the community, the fanbase, the organization. I got to meet a lot of people here today, and I’m so excited to get the chance to play in front of them and for them, and just to get to show the community my true character and who I really am and what I’m about.”
Hart said everyone was very welcoming on his first day at the rink.
“I’m just really looking forward to getting things rolling here, getting to work alongside all these guys, getting to know them all, and continuing to build on the championship culture that’s been established here in Las Vegas.”
Adin Hill is still “the guy,” a decision the club made clear last summer when it traded Logan Thompson to the Washington Capitals.
But Hart was considered one of the most promising young netminders in the game. He showed flashes of brilliance in his first playoff series back in 2020, outdueling Carey Price and finishing the Flyers’ bubble run with a 9-5 record. He was pulled in Game 2 of the first-round matchup against Montreal but responded with back-to-back shutouts, making him the second-youngest goalie in NHL history to accomplish that feat in the playoffs, trailing only Harry Lumley, who did it in 1945.
Hart will be extremely motivated to get his career back on track, quiet some of the noise and try to rebuild his reputation. Albeit under completely different circumstances, but many players have come to Vegas and revitalized their careers, so it’s certainly possible Hart could do the same.