Oilers’ Stan Bowman discusses pushback on Formenton signing

As Edmonton Oilers general manager Stan Bowman met with reporters Wednesday ahead of the team's training camp for the 2026-27 season, much of the conversation was focused on the recent signing of forward Alex Formenton.

The Oilers signed Formenton to a one-year deal last week, a move that has since been the subject of backlash from the hockey community and led to the creation of a 65,000-signature petition to reverse the signing.

Formenton was one of five former Canadian world junior players acquitted last year of sexual assault charges stemming from an encounter with a woman after a 2018 Hockey Canada gala in London, Ont.

"I would say we knew going into it that this was something that wasn't going to be universally accepted or embraced," Bowman said Wednesday, when asked about the reaction from the Oilers fanbase. "That was why we spent as much time as we did going through the details of it and going through our due diligence to make sure that we believed it was the right decision to make.

Formenton hasn't played in the NHL since 2021-22, competing with HC Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss league since then. The Ottawa Senators held his rights but cut ties with him in May.

The 27-year-old is the only player of the five who was immediately eligible for reinstatement to Hockey Canada, the organization announced in August — a decision that the Oilers considered as they went through the process of adding Formenton.

"That was a big factor for us, and I think you know that this isn't the forum to get into those details," Bowman said. "But we spent a lot of time finding out why there was a different treatment of Alex than there was of the other players, and there were specific reasons why that was the case, which gave us the willingness to move forward with Alex relative to the other players.

Formenton becomes the third player from the sexual-assault case to receive a contract since the trial, joining forward Dillon Dube, who signed with St. Louis, and goaltender Carter Hart in Vegas.

Michael McLeod is under contract in the KHL. Cal Foote signed this summer with a team in Sweden, which then terminated the deal after fans objected.

The NHL reinstated all five players a year ago, allowing them to play beginning Dec. 1.

That came after a judge found them not guilty of sexual assault and McLeod additionally of a separate count of being a party to the offence.

"We knew that it is something that is a polarizing topic, and that's why we did spend as much time looking into it to get us to the point where we do feel comfortable that Alex is a member of our team," Bowman said. "We believe that he's going to be an asset to our team on the ice, but also as a teammate.

I've had a lot of conversations with Alex, and he's grown a lot in the intervening years from where he was then to where he is now, and he's shown that growth.

Asked about the potential"fatigue" that fans might have with the Oilers' willingness to add people with controversial backgrounds to their organization, Bowman said he understands that feeling but that"it's not for (him) to say whether they should or shouldn't feel a certain way."

"You want to do right by the community, and you want to make people proud of you for the people that you are and the way that you operate moving forward," Edmonton's GM later added. "And I think that's really the message I would say is, we're trying to do the right thing and give us a chance to make them proud and be judged on what we do moving forward here.

So that's how I look at it.

— with files from The Canadian Press

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