Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere says Carter Hart's agent has informed the team that the goalie has ruled out a return to the Flyers

FILE - Hockey player Carter Hart, right, arrives at the London Courthouse in London, Ontario, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (Nicole Osborne/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

VOORHEES, N.J. (AP) — Philadelphia Flyers general manager Danny Briere said Tuesday the agent for free agent Carter Hart told the team the goalie has ruled out signing with the franchise when he is eligible to return to the NHL next month.

Hart is one of five players who were acquitted of sexual assault charges stemming from an incident in 2018 when they were members of Canada’s world junior team. The NHL has since reinstated the players and said they would be eligible to sign contracts on Oct. 15 and take part in games on Dec. 1.

The NHL's decision came roughly seven weeks after Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton were found not guilty by a judge in London, Ontario. The Canadian government told lawyers for the players last month it would not appeal the ruling.

Briere said a reunion with Hart would not happen.

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FILE - This combo of 2025 file photos taken in London, Ontario, shows, from top left, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, and from bottom left, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod, five hockey players acquitted of sexual assault charges stemming from an incident in 2018. (Canadian Press via AP, File)

“The only comment I’ll make on that is that his representative, Judd Moldaver, has reached out and kind of told us that in light of everything that happened in the last year and a half with Carter, they felt, and Carter felt, that it was better for them to look for a fresh start," Briere said. "That’s where it’s at and it’s the only comment I’m going to make on that.”

Hart was considered the goalie for the future for the Flyers when he made his debut in 2018. He won 96 games and had six shutouts over a Flyers career that came to abrupt end in January 2024 in the wake of the charges.

None of the players had current contracts and all are free agents. McLeod and Foote were with New Jersey, and Dube with Calgary, while Formenton was playing in Europe, and their respective teams let their previous deals expire last year after charges were filed.

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