WASHINGTON — Capitals forward Taylor Raddysh on Wednesday became the first active NHL player to testify in the Hockey Canada sexual assault case taking place in London, Ontario.
Raddysh, a member of Canada’s 2018 world junior team who was in London the night of the incident but not charged in the case, testified remotely from Arlington, Virginia. He was a healthy scratch for Game 5 of the Capitals’ first-round playoff series against Montreal on Wednesday night.
Raddysh took part in the morning skate and extra work after, which is typical for players not expected to be in the lineup. He was the odd man out with Aliaksei Protas returning from missing more than three weeks with a skate cut to his left foot.
The court dismissed him at 4 p.m. ET because of the game, with the plan for Raddysh to return and answer more questions Thursday morning. He was not on the ice for pregame warmups.
Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dube, Cal Foote and Alex Formenton all pleaded not guilty to sexual assault charges. McLeod has also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of being a party to the offense of sexual assault.
Jurors on Wednesday were shown a screenshot of what prosecutors allege is a group chat between members of the team around 2:10 a.m. that day. In it, prosecutors allege, McLeod asks if anyone wants to be in a “three-way,” then follows up with his hotel room number and Hart replies, “I’m in.”
Raddysh testified that he was the one who took the screenshot but didn’t remember when the message came in or when he first saw it. He was also asked about another series of screenshots showing what he said were text messages between him and McLeod.
In one, dated June 19, 2018, at 2:15 a.m., McLeod allegedly told Raddysh to come to his room if he wanted a “gummer.” Raddysh told the court he understood “gummer” to mean “oral sex.” He did not appear to reply to the message.
Another screenshot dated June 26, 1:57 p.m., included two messages from Raddysh to McLeod. “Bully just called me,” one said, followed by, “Said there’s an investigation.”
Raddysh told the court he was referring to a Hockey Canada staff member and that he understood the investigation to relate to “that night in London.”
Raddysh said he recalled very little from that night, even after reviewing transcripts from interviews he had with police in 2022 and lawyers in 2018. He said he didn’t have any memory of going to a bar with some of his teammates after the event but did remember having a video call with his then-girlfriend once back in his hotel room, which he said was next to McLeod’s.
He said he didn’t have a “full recollection” of going to McLeod’s room or how that came about but remembered seeing McLeod in the room with another teammate, Boris Katchouk, and a woman. Raddysh said he was “pretty sure” the woman was on the bed, but he couldn’t remember how she was positioned or whether she was wearing clothes.
“Sitting here today, I don’t remember,” Raddysh said, adding he could not remember how long he stayed in the room, or why he left.
