Two members of the New Jersey Devils and a former Ottawa Senator who now plays in Switzerland were granted indefinite leaves of absence from their teams on Wednesday.
Michael McLeod and Cal Foote of the Devils, and Alex Formenton, now on the roster of the Swiss League club Ambri-Piotta, join Dillon Dube and Carter Hart in being given leaves in the past four days.
On Sunday, the Calgary Flames said Dube was taking time off indefinitely to attend to a mental-health issue. The club said he was under the care of health professionals and requested that his privacy be respected.
On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Flyers said that Hart, the team’s starting goaltender, had asked for an indefinite leave for personal reasons.
“I don’t know [why],” DanieI Briere, the Philadelphia general manager, said at the time. “We’re not aware of anything.”
Hart is 12-9-3 in his sixth NHL season, the final one of a three-year contract worth US$11.9-million.
On Wednesday New Jersey club officials were likewise relatively mute when it was announced that McLeod and Foote had also taken leave.
“The club will have no further comment at this time,” the Devils said in a statement.
After practice, head coach Lindy Ruff said, “I don’t know” when asked for details.
Formenton’s Swiss club said he had been granted indefinite leave so that he could return to Canada.
Four of the players are 25 years old. Formenton is 24.
Dube is from Golden, B.C., and was drafted by Calgary in the second round in 2016. The centre has played 325 regular-season games and 22 during the playoffs. He had three goals and four assists over 43 games before he went on leave.
He is in the second season of a three-year contract with an annual average value of US$2.3-million.
McLeod, also a centre, has 10 goals and nine assists for New Jersey in 45 games. This is his sixth NHL season, all with the Devils, and he had career highs with 22 goals and 26 assists during the 2022-23 campaign.
He signed a one-year, US$1.4-million contract in July, 2023.
Foote, the son of former NHL defenceman Adam Foote, who is now an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, has played in just four games for New Jersey this season, and also played in the AHL.
He has appeared in 145 regular-season games with three teams, and was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning when it won the Stanley Cup in 2021. The defenceman signed a one-year contract with the Devils in August for US$800,000.
Hart, an Edmonton native, has played his entire NHL career in Philadelphia and has a career record of 96-93-29 with a .906 save percentage. His best season in the league was 2019-20 when he went 24-13-3 and had a .914 save percentage.
Formenton last played in the NHL in 2021-22 for Ottawa. He had career highs with 18 goals and 14 assists in 78 games.