Cal Foote will resume his hockey career in the AHL.
The defenceman has signed an AHL contract with the Chicago Wolves, the team announced Monday.
The Wolves are the AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes, but Foote would have to sign an NHL contract before he is a consideration for the top league.
Foote was one of five ex-NHL players eligible to play in the NHL as of Monday after being acquitted of sexual assault in July in a high-profile case involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team.
Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Alex Formenton are the others.
Hart signed an NHL deal with the Vegas Golden Knights earlier this season and has been playing in the AHL since Nov. 15. Formenton has been playing in the Swiss league and McLeod has been in the KHL. Dube has not played this season.
The five players were were charged in 2024 in connection with an incident in London, Ont., in 2018. The judge overseeing the trial said the prosecution could not meet the onus of proof to convict them and that the complainant’s allegations lacked the credibility needed to justify the charges.
The NHL conducted its own investigation beginning in 2022, when the allegations came to light.
Foote, 26, has five goals and 15 assists in 145 career NHL games after being picked 14th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2017 draft.
— with files from The Associated Press
