Canadian Hockey Players Sign Contracts Amid Ongoing Legal Battle

Two players from Canada's 2018 gold medal-winning junior team, Michael McLeod and Dillon Dube, sign contracts with a Russian hockey league. Both face trial over an alleged 2018 group sexual assault. Other implicated players remain unsigned after a reopened investigation into the incident.

Two players from Canada's 2018 gold medal-winning world junior hockey team, Michael McLeod and Dillon Dube, have signed contracts to play in the Kontinental Hockey League, despite facing charges related to an alleged group sexual assault.

The Astana Barys team in Kazakhstan announced McLeod's signing, while Dube is on the roster for Belarus-based Dinamo Minsk. Both players participated in the NHL last season but took leaves of absence before facing charges.

The incident allegedly occurred in June 2018 at a Hockey Canada gala. The case, initially closed in 2019, was reopened in July 2022. Legal representatives for McLeod and Dube insist their clients are innocent.

(With inputs from agencies.)