Will the Canes be interested in any of the five Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault?

Will the Canes be interested in any of the five Hockey Canada players acquitted of sexual assault?

Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Music] Well, welcome to the Kane’s Corner podcast. I am Adam Gold. Hope everything is well in your world. And the countdown begins as we get ready for the start of the preseason. In a week from tonight, the Hurricanes will play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning, first of six preseason games, as you are well aware. And uh we will be here to document all of it for you. I believe we will do all six preseason games, Stormwatch, aftermaths, podcasts, all of that. There might be a uh one of the five one of the six preseason games we won’t get to in terms of podcast. It all depends on uh travel schedule uh as a uh as a soccer parent. Um, but what I want to do first is just welcome you to the another to to another season because as we start year eight of the Rod Brymore era and the success that this franchise, this organization has had over the last seven years, making the playoffs each time, three times getting to the conference finals. And sometimes we treat that like that ain’t an accomplishment, but it is. And you all know it’s an accomplishment. I get it. We all want to go further. Hey, baby steps. Hurricanes won a game in the conference finals this year. fact remains that other than the Panthers and the Lightning and I guess what Colorado and Vegas that have also won Stanley Cubs. Every other team in the league will probably trade places with where Carolina is. And I think sometimes we lose sight of that. And I think cooler heads would agree. All right. So, what we’re going to do over the next seven days leading up to the preseason opener against Tampa week from tonight is we’re going to take one issue team oriented, league oriented, and I’ve gotten a whole bunch of great suggestions from you uh to get us to preseason opening night. Uh we’re going to take one issue a night and we’re going to go through it and we’re going to sort through it how it impacts the hurricanes uh how it could impact the hurricanes positively or negatively and uh we’re not going to spend a ton of time. So if uh if we’re here for let’s say uh longer than oh I don’t know 15 minutes it’s kind of an upset. We’re brought to you by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina if it is for the exterior of your home. You can find it at the Aluminum Company of North Carolina on Hamlin Road in Durham. No place like it. Sammy Hannah and his crew do a great job. Do remember forgetting to do that when I had Rod Brymore on the show. Uh apologies to Sammy Hannah. They’re going to be out here in just a few weeks doing a whole bunch of work out here at the ranch. All right, before we begin a news item, and this will be our topic of discussion this evening. Could Michael Mloud, Alex Foreman, Carter Hart, Dylan Dubet, and Cal Foot play again in the NHL? Their careers sidelined after explosive allegations surfaced accusing them of sexually assaulting a woman in a London hotel room after a Hockey Canada event in 2018. In a statement, the league said it conducted its own extensive investigation. And while it found the players conduct fell woefully short of the standards and values of the league, they will be eligible to sign contracts on October 15th and play by December 1st. All right, there you go. That is a report from the CBC. It’s the radio side of CBC. So where most of us at least have working knowledge of the sexual assault trial, the assault which allegedly took place back in 2018 at a celebration of the Canadian World Junior’s uh winning this the gold medal that year. I think it was a couple years prior to that. uh and the tr and these allegations came to light just a couple years ago and these five players to varying degrees of success in the NHL. I have not played in the league since the I guess the middle of the 23 24 season. And the five players are Carter Hart, who was at one point one of the top goalending prospects in the NHL, was with Philadelphia, had two really good years and kind of went sideways in terms of his play. Michael Mloud, who was a center for the New Jersey Devils, more on him in a minute. Uh Dylan Dubet, who is also a center, a little bit smaller, uh shiftier, um uh played in Calgary. Alex Foremanson who is a kind of a leftwing power forward just forward with uh was with Ottawa’s been playing in Switzerland the last few years and Caloot who’s at this point although his dad Adamfoot is a longtime NHL and I believe Stanley Cup champion uh we’re talking about somebody who’s probably no more than an AHL uh extra defenseman at this point. So, these are the five players that the National Hockey League doesn’t really want. I think they made it pretty clear that they are um embarrassed by that behavior, as they should, but because this is the way the world works and you’ve got collective bargaining and players associations, they will fight for the rights of players. And these players are not um they’re not convicted. They are certainly convicted by many in the court of public opinion. And I am not here to try this case. But as long as these players are free citizens, then the National Hockey League can suspend, but they don’t really have grounds to ban. And the way it works, and I think you heard it in the report, they will be eligible to sign contracts October 15th, they will be eligible to uh I guess agree, which is weird, to contract on October 1st, and they will be eligible to play in the NHL on December 1st. Now, for the sake of brevity, since we’re only going to do this for about 15 minutes, let’s just agree that Caloot not part of the discussion. Alex Foremanson, who’s really just a winger, not really nothing more than a middle six winger, not part of the discussion as it pertains to the Carolina Hurricanes because that’s our focus here. Dylan Dubet, h not really a Carolina Hurricanes uh target at all. But there are two players who had this not occurred, and I am not trying to make it seem like this did not occur, but had it not occurred, Carter Hart, Michael Mloud would both be of great interest to Carolina for two obvious reasons. one, Carter Hart at one point a big-time goalending prospect and may once again be. They’re all both of these guys are only 27. Hart was exceptional for two years for the Flyers. Year three went completely sideways and has sort of built his career back up. And according to Dave Pota of the fourth period, the Hurricanes are very interested. My sources are telling me that that interest is not necessarily um mutual. Not that the Hurricanes are not a great organization for anybody, but but what I understand is that Carter Hart prefers a uh a western climate. Now, I think he is from Western Canada. They do not believe uh that this would be uh Edmonton at all, even though Edmonton needs goalending, don’t they? Uh but that he is more likely to end up uh in the Western Conference. It’s not about I hate Carolina. It’s about that. And again, I am not sitting here advocating for anything. The more intriguing prospect for me if I were Carolina would be Mloud and but there it comes with major major problems. Let’s just deal with the problems quickly. And the problem is that Mloud was by all evidence and again these five players were acquitted and I don’t want to litigate it. I think we can all agree that the behavior was abhorrent, gross, disgusting, all of that. But there is nothing that any of us can do to change that other than, you know, you you voice your your opinions as fans or as media members. But I’m not going to get into it. But Mloud was in fact, according to text messages that we did hear in court, the guy who organized it, the ring leader, if you will, which makes it very problematic for the Hurricanes. or would be would make it ve very problematic for the Hurricanes. And I do not know if the Hurricanes have any interest in Michael Mloud at all. But let me talk about Michael Mloud as a player because I think we’re missing something. And here is why, and I said this the other day on the radio, and I will just tell you right off the bat that we’re going to go longer than the 15 minutes, but I’m not going to keep you more than the 20. I promise. because there’s a football game I know you all want to watch. Maybe you don’t. I don’t. Mloud had two basically full seasons, right? 21 22 22 23 uh where he played uh you know basically two full seasons and is not a not a big score. not a big score at all. The 23-24 series season, the one that was cut short, he was starting to come into his own and that began the previous playoff series and I’ll explain in a minute. 10 goals, 29 points, 45 games. Think about it. You’re talking about a almost a 50 point, not 50, almost a 35 point uh pace, right? 29. No, you know, you are talking about about a 50 uh so 29 points, 30 points roughly in 45 games. So you’re talking about, you know, between 45 and 50 points and at that point he was a middle six center for the Devils. except, and I encourage you maybe to put the tape on of this if you go if if you don’t remember it, in 22 23, this of course was the year the Hurricanes ended up uh losing to Florida in the Eastern Conference Finals in those four crazy games. They advanced past the Devils or through New Jersey into the Eastern Conference Finals. And I am here to tell you that Michael Mloud was the New Jersey Devil’s best forward, arguably their best player. I either Mloud or John Marino, I think, had his best uh playoff series for the Devils. Mloud led them in ice time. He was in the series only a little bit more than 50% from the faceoff circle, but if you look at his faceoffs over the over the course of his career, and he is a legitimate two-way center, he is in the 60 to 65% range and he’s a righty and he’s 6’2 and he can skate and he kills penalties and he plays both ends of the ice. So, what I’m here to tell you is that I have no clue as to whether or not Carolina would be interested in Michael Mloud. But if he is an eligible player, and he will be, I would not be surprised if they were interested in Mloud. And I will tell you this, there will be competing interest for Mloud and for Carter Hart. The other players maybe not so much, but those two guys will garner interest. And I do remember before the trial, and this is absolutely the truth. Before the trial, before we we heard news of this story, I thought, man, wouldn’t the Hurricanes love to get their hands on Mloud? He’ll he’s he’s got I mean, every quality the Hurricanes want. Now, maybe he doesn’t profile as a true second line center. The player I watched in that playoff series in 2023 is that player was. But again, that those were five games in which he had four points, played over 18 minutes a night, and wasn’t getting any help from the rest of his team. Remember the Hurricanes absolutely blasted the Devils. That was the Jordan Martinook series where Martinook uh morphed into uh you know Mario Lemieux. And just thinking back on what impact Mloud made in that series and I thought going into the following season, man, it would be great to get your hands on a player like that cuz Carolina has obviously struggled to develop centers. And that is the mission for Eric Tolski and company going into this season is somehow figure out how to handle center because the number one separator between and I’ll be quick here. The number one separator between the Hurricanes and the Florida Panthers and the New Jersey Devils is the center position. So, I’ll just compare Carolina to New Jersey in the metro. Jack Hughes is the first center. Nico Heir is the second center. For my money, I’d rather have Hishir than Hughes, but doesn’t matter. Hughes is one, heir is two. The Hurricanes do not compete with that. even if you gave Sebastian uh the benefit of the doubt as a two-way center over Jack Hughes. And believe it or not, uh the was it uh NHL Network did their top 50 and Hughes and Aaho were basically in the same spot. Hughes is number 31. AO is number 35. So, you know, throw a blanket over the Hurricane second center doesn’t even come close to being the two-way player that Nico Hishir is. Jordan Stall can match him defensively, although Heir is an an elite defender, but Nico is also an 80 plus point guy, and we know that that isn’t Jordan Stall. never has been and won’t be anymore anytime uh anytime again anyway. So, this is where Carolina must improve. I’m not saying it has to be through Michael Mloud. But what I’m saying is that if the Hurricanes want to close the gap on Florida, it starts in the middle in the middle. And we and we didn’t even talk about Florida who can go down the middle with Barkoff, who for my money is the best in the game. Then you got Bennett. Then you got Anton Lundell. And the Hurricanes absolutely cannot come close to that. No team can. So that to me is where the Hurricanes have to start. If you’re trying to claw back the Florida Panthers, you got to get better in the middle. And that is the mission for Eric Tolski and company as the season gets closer, as we get into the season. And I’ll just uh I’ll wrap this part up here. Well, what a little taste of what we’re going to get into over the next uh gosh, six nights after tonight leading to the game against Tampa is as the season starts, as we get into the year, as we get closer to Thanksgiving and beyond Thanksgiving and into the holidays, which I guess Thanksgiving would qualify as a holiday, right? There will be teams that will realize it ain’t happening for us. It ain’t happening for not everybody can win. Right now, there are 31 of 32 teams that think they’re going to win and that ain’t going to happen. Those teams invariably will have a center that maybe Carolina could latch on to. I do think that if the Hurricanes are truly going to pursue a Stanley Cup, there will be another center. And with that said, I will close on this. And it is something that I have said over and over and over and over and over again. Yes, they’re going to try Logan Stanovven in the middle. They might even try Seth Jarvis in the middle, although Rod Brendmore is loathed to do that, but I I would not completely rule it out. Yes, Barry Code Kinami is going to get one more kick at it. Promise you that. One more kick at it. And does it mean it’s the last kick? No, it isn’t. But it’s probably the last kick at that role because I don’t understand why it’s for some people not a possibility. But if Yasperi Kini just ultimately was Carolina’s fourth center, I don’t see how that’s a bad thing. There’d be a lot of teams in the league that wouldn’t mind having that guy as a 4C about 50% in the dot. Got a good shot, can play big body. It all depends on what kind of player Yperry Cook wants to be. So, I think he’ll get the first crack at 2C. If it doesn’t work out, worst comes to worst, he’s your fourth center, unless you use him to get your second center. But the whole point of this was to start with those five players. And again, Cal Foot, Alex Foremanson, Dylan Dubet, Proette, Carter Hart. According to Dave Pñota of the fourth period, the Hurricanes are interested in uh my sources tell me not uh reciprocal and the player named Michael Mloud who frankly out of central casting is kind of the upand cominging player, not the person, the upand cominging player that the Hurricanes really are looking for. big body, right shot, great face off, all of that. So, don’t be surprised if we’ve all got something to wrestle with. Personally, me personally, I would hate it because there is no doubt in my mind that not only Mloud but all of these players, people behaved reprehensibly and there likely should have been a conviction. But this is why, unfortunately, as I just get on a very brief soapbox, this is why convictions for sexual assaults are so problematic. It’s so hard to get I don’t even know how to say it. I don’t have to. It’s just hard and it’s sad. It’s absolutely sad. So, we’ll all have to deal with it. We’ll all have to make choices as fans, as people, as parents about how we feel about this should it happen. But as a player, Michael Mloud would would certainly look good in the Hurricanes uniform as a player. Um, and then it would just be up to how Mloud would reing himself into the general uh, into society and how he handles it going forward. By all accounts, everything I’ve read, uh, remorseful, looking to help, looking to be an advocate. So, not going to uh, uh, not going to bury the entire issue. Uh, with all of that said, I think I have run my allotted time. Way over time. The whole plan was to do 10 or 15 minutes. I can’t do anything in 10 or 15 minutes. Um, but man, we’re just one week away. Canes Lightning Lenovo Center Monday the 22nd, right? The 22nd. Uh, all right. Uh, we’re brought to you by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. If it is for the exterior of your home, you can find it at the Aluminum Company of North Carolina on Hamlin Road in Durham. No place like it. Sammy Hannah and his crew do a great job. You should check them out. aluminum company.com. And uh is the appetite wedded? Mine is tomorrow. We’ll see you. Same bad time, same channel. I’m Adam Gold. Tonight.

Five former Hockey Canada players were recently found not guilty of sexual assault in an incident that allegedly happened in Ontario in 2018. Carter Hart, Micheal McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were acquitted in July 2025.

The five players are eligible to sign NHL contracts in October. Would the Carolina Hurricanes be interested in signing them? Adam discusses the two players who might have peaked the Canes’ interest.

This is part one of a seven-part preseason series. Adam Gold digs into seven big issues heading to the start of the Canes preseason schedule.

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