Teams have huge decision to make soon on four players from 2018 World Juniors

No one has ever given a specific answer on whether four players who represented Team Canada at the 2018 World Juniors who went on the play in the NHL would ever end up back in the league. NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly has now offered some insight.

In total, five players from Team Canada at the 2018 World Junior Championship have been charged with s---al assault stemming from an alleged incident during a party a couple of months later. One of them, Alex Formenton, already left the league to play in Switzerland. The others - Carter Hart of the Philadelphia Flyers, Dillon Dube of the Calgary Flames, and Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the New Jersey Devils - have all been on leaves of absence from their respective teams since just before the charges were laid. All are pending restricted free agents, and, under normal circumstances, would need a qualifying offer from their teams for their rights to be retained. Many were wondering if this would be the case with these four. NHL Commissioner Bill Daly has clarified that it most likely will be. Offers need to be in by 5 PM ET on June 30.

While it's not likely any other team in the NHL will take any of these players while the legal process is playing out, not getting a qualifying offer makes them unrestricted, and free to sign in any league anywhere in the world. It's hard to imagine a KHL, SHL, or Swiss National League team not making an offer to a goalie the calibre of Carter Hart if he's on the market. It remains to be seen whether Hart would take it.

It's a tough decision for the NHL teams involved. No one has been found guilty of anything at this point, but retaining any of these players could mean cash caught up in assets that can't be used for quite some time.