The Edmonton Oilers have signed forward Alex Formenton to a one-year, $850,000 contract.
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reported in June that the Ottawa Senators had removed Formenton from their free agent list, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Formenton, who has not played in the NHL since the 2021-22 season, and had remained under team control of the Senators, dating back to when the team qualified him that summer.
Senators general manager Steve Staios said last September that Formenton would not be returning to Ottawa, stating both sides has agreed “it would be best for everybody for a fresh start for Alex.”
Formenton spent last season with Switzerland’s HC Ambri-Piotta, posting 13 goals and 23 points in 42 games. He returned to the team in September on a short-term deal through the December international break, with an option that was eventually exercised for the remainder of the season.
He is one of five players, along with Carter Hart, Michael McLeod, Dillon Dube and Callan Foote, who were charged with sexual assault following an incident in a London, Ont. hotel room in 2018 after a Hockey Canada event celebrating their World Junior title.
All five players were acquitted in July of 2025 after a high-profile trial that lasted for months.
The National Hockey League reinstated the players as of Dec. 1, though only Hart - with the Vegas Golden Knights - played in the league last season. Formenton joins Dube, who inked a one-year deal with the St. Louis Blues on July 1, in signing an NHL contract for this season.
Formenton was reinstated by Hockey Canada, effective immediately, last month despite an independent appeal board confirming that the players breached the Hockey Canada code of conduct. The appeal board recommended staggered suspensions from Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs and reinstatement dates for the five players, which were accepted by Hockey Canada.
Formenton was the only played reinstated immediately, with Foote set for reinstatement in November, Hart in 2027, Dube in 2028 and McLeod in 2030.
Formenton, who was drafted in the second round by Ottawa in 2017, played three seasons with the team, scoring 18 goals with 32 points in 79 games in 2021-22.
