Formenton files a $20.5 million lawsuit against Newport Sports agent Wade Arnott

Former Ottawa Senators forward Alex Formenton, one of five former National Hockey League players charged by police in London, Ont., with sexual assault, has filed a $20.5 million lawsuit against player agency Newport Sports Management Inc. and Wade Arnott, his former agent, alleging negligence, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.

Formenton, who is now 25, claims he has suffered loss of income in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 NHL seasons, plus future income from lost NHL playing time, due to Arnott and Newport’s misconduct.

Formenton has asked a court to award him $20 million in damages and another $500,000 in punitive damages due to Newport’s “bad faith and high-handed behavior.”

Formenton’s allegations have not been tested in court. Neither Newport Sports founder Don Meehan nor Arnott responded to requests for comment. Based in Toronto, Newport is the largest agency in the NHL. Some of the high-profile clients include Connor Bedard, Erik Karlsson, Brad Marchand and Brady and Matthew Tkachuk.

“As his agent, Wade and Newport Sports owed Alex a duty of care,” Formenton’s lawsuit reads. “At all relevant times they were negligent in the performance of their duties as an agent for Alex and failed to meet the requisite standard of care expected of a professional agent. Alex argues that the services and advice of Wade and Newport Sports were carried out negligently, carelessly and inexpertly…’

Formenton was the Senators’ second-round pick in the 2017 NHL draft. He was 17 at the time and signed a standard player-agent contract with Newport, with Arnott, Meehan and agent Pat Morris as guarantors.

Formenton then relied on Newport and Arnott to help him sign an entry-level contract with the Senators, his lawsuit reads, adding that the player-agent agreement between Formenton and Newport expired on July 12, 2022, and was not renewed.

Over the next three seasons, Formenton played primarily with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and the Senators’ American Hockey League affiliate in Belleville, Ont. He established himself as an NHL regular in Ottawa in 2021-22, a season in which he scored 18 goals and took the league lead with five shorthanded goals.

According to Formenton’s lawsuit, filed Oct. 25 in Ontario Superior Court in Toronto, the Senators presented Formenton with a qualifying offer worth $787,500 (U.S.) in July 2022, after his entry-level deal expired, which he rejected .

Formenton alleges in its lawsuit that after contacting Arnott in July 2022 and asking for advice on how to proceed, Formenton failed to inform Formenton that by accepting the qualifying offer, Formenton could begin negotiations for a settlement in January 2023 new, third contract, starting with the 2023-24 season.

Arnott and Newport failed to inform Formenton that the offer could be extended beyond July 15, 2022 if there was an agreement with the Senators, the lawsuit alleges, adding that Arnott and Newport did not request an extension of the Senators’ offer .

“Throughout the remainder of July and into December 2022, Wade Alex continued to claim and indicate that he would still be offered a new contract by the Ottawa Senators,” the lawsuit reads. “Wade advised that even without an accepted offer or an extended qualifying offer, his dealings with the Ottawa Senators on Alex’s behalf were ‘business as usual’ and that Alex had to rely on Wade and Newport Sports to secure a favorable offer.

“Wade’s advice was wrong. The Ottawa Senators did not propose or agree to a new contract with Alex prior to December 1, 2022, and accordingly Alex was ineligible to play in the NHL for the remainder of the 2022-2023 season.

In December 2022, Formenton agreed to a $125,000 contract with Ambri-Piotta, a professional hockey team based in Ambri, Switzerland.

“During negotiations of the Ambri-Piotta contract, Wade requested a contract clause that would allow Alex to return to play in the NHL, should Newport Sports and Alex be able to negotiate a new NHL contract to negotiate,” the lawsuit reads. “At no time during the contract negotiations with Ambri-Piotta did Wade advise Alex on the consequences or possible repercussions of a move to a European team and the impact this may have on a subsequent career in the NHL.”

Formenton took a leave of absence from Ambri-Piotta in January 2024. That same month, he ended his relationship with Arnott and Newport, the lawsuit said.

Also in January, Formenton, Dillon Dubé, Carter Hart, Michael McLeod and Cal Foote were charged with assault. All five players were members of Canada’s 2018 World Juniors team and are accused of sexually assaulting a woman referred to in court documents as EM after a golf and gala event in London in June 2018.

All five players are expected to plead not guilty at trial and have asked to have their cases heard by a judge and jury. An eight-week trial is scheduled to begin on September 8, 2025, but it is possible the trial could begin as early as April 22, 2025, if all pre-trial matters are resolved.

In a series of court documents filed this spring, after some defendants sought permission to leave Canada before trial for training and work purposes, Formenton wrote in an affidavit that he lives and works in the Barrie, Ont., area. the construction industry and training in both the operation and management of heavy equipment.

“I learned to work with excavators, skid steers and rollers,” he wrote. “Because I have focused on hockey my whole life, it is a challenge to switch to a new industry.”