Defenseman Cal Foote has signed a contract to join the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League, the team announced Monday.
Foote, 26, was found not guilty of sexual assault in a London, Ontario, court in July along with four teammates from the 2018 Canadian world junior team.
Foote played in the Slovak Extraliga in 2024-25 and last skated in the NHL in 2023-24 with the New Jersey Devils. He has 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) and 137 penalty minutes in 145 career games with the Devils, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning, who drafted Foote in the first round in 2017.
He is the son of Adam Foote, the Vancouver Canucks head coach and retired NHL defenseman.
The Wolves are the minor league affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes. Because Foote’s contract is AHL-only, he is ineligible to be called up to the NHL.
Foote, Dillon Dube, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart and Michael McLeod were the five players tried on sexual assault charges in Ontario Superior Court in the spring of 2025.
Months after their acquittal on July 24, the NHL reinstated the players and said they would be eligible to sign contracts with teams beginning in mid-October and could appear in games as of Dec. 1.
The Vegas Golden Knights signed Hart, a 27-year-old goaltender, to a two-year, $4 million contract in late October and recalled him from the AHL on Sunday.
Dube is a free agent. Formenton and McLeod are playing in Switzerland and Russia, respectively.
