The 2018 Canadian World Junior Championship team continues to be a story that just won't fade into the background. While the on-ice gold medal memories from that tournament have long been overshadowed by off-ice legal proceedings, the players involved have been slowly piecing their careers back together since being acquitted of sexual assault charges last summer. Now, another one of those players has found a new home for the upcoming season.
Defenseman Cal Foote has inked a one-year deal with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League for the 2026-27 campaign, the club announced on Tuesday. It marks the 27-year-old blueliner's second stint playing overseas and his first time suiting up in Sweden.
Foote was once considered one of the more promising two-way defensive prospects in hockey. Selected 14th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2017 out of the WHL's Kelowna Rockets, where he captained the team and put up 19 goals and 70 points in his final junior season, the Denver native seemed poised for a long NHL career. But things never quite clicked at the top level.
Across parts of four NHL seasons with Tampa Bay , Nashville , and New Jersey , Foote managed just five goals and 20 points in 145 games. The Lightning moved him to the Predators in a deal that also included five draft picks going Nashville's way for Tanner Jeannot , and after a brief stop there, he landed with the Devils on a one-year, two-way contract for 2023-24.
That's when everything went sideways. Foote and teammate Michael McLeod were placed on indefinite leave by New Jersey before being formally charged with sexual assault stemming from an alleged incident in London, Ontario in June 2018, shortly after that World Junior gold medal. Foote, along with Carter Hart , McLeod, Dillon Dube , and Alex Formenton , stood trial in 2025. All five were found not guilty on July 24 of that year.
With his legal situation resolved, Foote took his game to Europe for the first time, signing with HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas in Slovakia's Extraliga. He put up a respectable three goals and 27 assists in 38 games there before returning to North America last season on an AHL deal with the Chicago Wolves, Carolina's farm club. He tallied four goals and 18 points in 48 regular season games and then turned it up in the postseason with three goals and 11 points in 21 playoff contests as the Wolves reached the Calder Cup Final, ultimately falling to the Toronto Marlies in five games.
Färjestad's sporting director Rickard Wallin acknowledged the club did its homework before bringing Foote aboard. "We are aware of the history. We conducted extensive research and a careful assessment before making our decision," Wallin said in a translated statement. "We hold everyone who represents Färjestad BK to high standards and feel confident in welcoming Cal to the club."
At 27, Foote's path back to the NHL looks increasingly unlikely, but the SHL represents a significant step up in competition from where he's been playing. A strong season in Sweden could open doors, whether that means a longer stay in one of Europe's top leagues or perhaps one more crack at the North American game. For now, he joins a growing list of acquitted 2018 World Junior alumni who are simply trying to move forward with their hockey lives.
