Former Ottawa Senators player Alex Formenton has filed a lawsuit against his former agent Wade Arnott and Newport Sports Management Inc. with the basis of lost wages.
Former Senators forward Alex Formenton, one of five one-time NHL players charged by police in London with sexual assault, has filed a $20.5M lawsuit against player agency Newport Sports and Wade Arnott, his former agent, alleging negligence, breach of contract, and breach of… https://t.co/UxICUd7606
— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) November 1, 2024
Formenton is one of five players who have been charged with sexual assault by the police in London, Ontario, and has now moved to a construction job in Ontario according to a report by Kate Dubinski of CBC.
According to Rick Westhead of TSN, Formenton is filing for $20 million in damages and an additional $500,000 for punitive damages alleging negligence, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty.
Formenton did not have a contract or play in the NHL for the 2022-23 or 2023-24 season, which he blames his former agent for as
“As his agent, Wade and Newport Sports owed Alex a duty of care,” Formenton’s lawsuit reads. “At all material times, they were negligent in exercising their duties as agent to Alex and did not meet the required standard of care expected of a professional agent. Alex pleads that the services and counsel provided by Wade and Newport Sports were done negligently, carelessly and unskillfully…”
After the conclusion of the 2021-22 NHL season where Formenton looked to be an integral part of the Senators moving forward and posted 18 goals and 32 points in 79 games, the lawsuit reports that Formenton’s player-agent agreement was not renewed.
With a combination of advising Formenton to not sign a qualifying offer of $787,500, as well as noting that this was ‘business as usual’ between the Senators and Arnott on Formenton’s behalf, Formenton ended up signing a one-year contract in the Swiss league after the deadline passed for eligibility to play in the 2022-23 season.