Carter Hart joined the Vegas Golden Knights on a professional tryout contract, the team announced Thursday.
The goalie last played for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2023-24 season. He was 12-9-3 with a 2.80 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and one shutout in 26 games (25 starts) before being granted a leave of absence from the team on Jan. 23.
Hart was one of five players on Canada's 2018 World Junior Championship gold-medal team who was accused of committing sexual assault in June of that year. All five were found not guilty.
On Sept. 11, the NHL said in a statement that "the events that transpired after the 2018 Hockey Canada Foundation Gala in London, Ontario, prior to these players' arrival in the NHL, were deeply troubling and unacceptable. The League expects everyone connected with the game to conduct themselves with the highest level of moral integrity. And, in this case, while found not to have been criminal, the conduct of the players involved certainly did not meet that standard."
"It's been a long road to get back to this point, to get back to playing the game of hockey, a game that I love, and I've been out of the game for a year and a half now," Hart said Thursday. "I've learned a lot. I've grown a lot, I'm just excited to move forward.
"I've heard nothing but great things about the city, the community, the fan base, the organization, and I got to meet a lot of people here today, and I'm so excited to get the chance to play in front of them and for them, and just get to show the community my true character and who I really am, what I'm about."
The NHL also said that Hart along with forwards Dillon Dube, Michael McLeod and Alex Formenton, and defenseman Cal Foote were eligible to sign an NHL contract no sooner than Oct. 15, and eligible to play in NHL games no sooner than Dec. 1.
McLeod signed a three-year contract with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia on Oct. 9. The other three remain free agents.
"I feel great," Hart said. " ... I know I've been away from the game for a little while, but I feel like I've done everything I can to stay ready and to stay prepared and take care of my body, work on my game, in the gym, to just all the little things. And like I said, it's different in a practice or a goalie skate versus in a game setting, facing game bullets, but that'll come, and we have time here to prepare and get ready for December 1."
The Golden Knights host the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday (10 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, SCRIPPS); the first game Hart is eligible to play in the NHL is against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 2.
"He'll be with us. I don't know if he'll be with us every day, when we go on the road, I honestly don't know the answer to that," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "I'll have an answer for you next week. I expect he'll be here with us this week. He hasn't played in a while, he needs to work. I think he'd be the first to acknowledge that. We all recognize that, so he'll get some work with us and I think the plan's going to be fluid to be honest with you. ... I don't know the ins and outs of the tryout agreement, like what he can do. But that's something that management will give me direction on and if he's here, if he's able to practice then he will."
The second-round pick (No. 48) by Philadelphia in the 2016 NHL Draft, Hart is 96-93-29 with a 2.94 GAA, .906 save percentage and six shutouts in 227 regular-season games (218 starts) and 9-5 with a 2.23 GAA, .926 save percentage and two shutouts in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"Good goalie," Vegas captain Mark Stone said. "Looking forward to having him be one of our goaltenders. I think he's excited to join the group. ... we saw Carter today for the first time. Happy to have him here, happy to welcome him to our team, to our family and incorporate him into the culture that we have."
The Golden Knights have two goalies on their current roster. Adin Hill started 50 games last season, going 32-13-5 with a 2.47 GAA and .906 save percentage, and Akira Schmid played five games (three starts), going 2-0-1 with a 1.26 GAA and .944 save percentage.
"I think it’s great," forward Jack Eichel said of adding Hart. "I think yeah, we have a great group of people in here and culture and stemming from ownership through our entire organization. We're looking forward to having him and it's a great opportunity for him to get to play hockey again. I think with the people we have here and our organization, I think it's going to be great for him to be able to do that again. I'm sure he's looking forward to being a hockey player."
Ilya Samsonov, who was the primary backup for the Golden Knights last season, was not re-signed. He was 16-9-4 with a 2.82 GAA and .891 save percentage in 29 games last season.
"I'm just looking forward to moving ahead here and getting back to playing the game of hockey that I love and showing the community here what I'm really about and my true character and who I am," Hart said.
NHL.com independent correspondent Paul Delos Santos contributed to this report
