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Golden Knights Bring In Carter Hart on PTO, Marking First NHL Return From Hockey Canada Case

League rules set a Nov. 15 start for conditioning with NHL eligibility beginning Dec. 1.

Carter Hart
Carter Hart #79 of the Philadelphia Flyers takes a break during a stop in play in the second period of a game against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on October 24, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Golden Knights defeated the Flyers 3-2. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Carter Hart leaves court after a judge found him and his teammates not guilty in the trial involving players from Canada’s 2018 gold medal–winning world junior hockey team, who were charged with sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room, at the Superior Court of Justice in London, Ontario, Canada, July 24, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

Overview

  • Carter Hart, 27, joined the Vegas Golden Knights on a professional tryout that multiple outlets report is expected to convert to an NHL contract.
  • Hart is the first of the five players acquitted in July in the 2018 Hockey Canada case to join an NHL organization under the NHL/NHLPA reinstatement framework.
  • Per the reinstatement timeline, contracts could be signed starting Oct. 15, conditioning can begin Nov. 15, and NHL games are permitted starting Dec. 1.
  • Vegas cited alignment with the NHL/NHLPA process as it announced Hart’s addition, while fan backlash included an online petition urging the team not to sign him.
  • The move follows a lower-body injury to starter Adin Hill, with Akira Schmid currently available, and Hart last played an NHL game on Jan. 20, 2024 for the Flyers.