The eight Metropolitan division teams announced news regarding their restricted free agents status today.
With today’s 5 p.m. deadline to qualifying restricted free agents, 39 combined players were extended offers from their respective clubs.
Clubs who tender a qualifying offer to a player automatically retain the player’s rights for another year. The team may continue negotiations on a new contract or the player can agree to accept the qualifying offer which is on a one-year term at the same salary as the season prior. In some cases, players and clubs may also file for salary arbitration where an individual arbitrator will hear testimony and reward a salary accordingly.
Players that were not issued qualifying offers may continue to negotiate a contract extension with their current club but will become unrestricted free agents on July 1 at 12 p.m. EST.
Here are the list of players receiving qualifying offers and those that did not.
Carolina Hurricanes
Received Qualifying Offer (7): Forwards, Patrick Brown, Victor Rask, Brody Sutter and Brandon Woods. Defensemen, Keegan Lowe, Ryan Murphy and Dennis Robertson.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (9): Forwards, Zach Boychuk, Anthony Camara, Dane Fox, Carter Sandlak and Justin Shugg. Defensemen, Danny Biega, Michal Jordan and Rasmus Rissanen. Goaltender, Rasmus Tirronen.
Columbus Blue Jackets:
Received Qualifying Offer (4): Forwards, Alex Broadhurst and T.J. Tynan. Defensemen, Scott Harrington and Seth Jones.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (2): Forward, Michael Chaput. Defensemen, Michael Paliotta.
New Jersey Devils:
Received Qualifying Offer (4): Forwards, Reid Boucher, Jacob Josefson, Sergey Kalinin and Kyle Palmieri.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (4): Forwards, Beau Bennett and Devante Smith-Pelly. Defensemen, Raman Hrabarenka and Jon Merrill.
New York Islanders:
Received Qualifying Offer (7): Forwards, Kirill Petrov, Shane Prince, Alan Quine and Ryan Strome. Defenseman, Scott Mayfield. Goaltenders, J.S. Berube and Chris Gibson.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (2): Forwards, Justin Vaive and James Wright.
New York Rangers:
Received Qualifying Offer (8): Forwards, Kevin Hayes, Marek Hrivik, Nicklas Jensen, Chris Kreider and J.T. Miller. Defensemen, Mat Bodie, Tommy Hughes and Dylan McIlrath.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (6): Forwards, Luke Adam, Chris McCarthy, Josh Nichols and Michael St. Croix. Defensemen, Mike Kantor and Sam Noreau.
Philadelphia Flyers:
Received Qualifying Offer (5): Forwards, Nick Cousins, Brayden Schenn, Petr Straka and Jordan Weal. Defenseman, Brandon Manning.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (2): Forwards, Brandon Alderson and Derek Mathers.
Pittsburgh Penguins:
Received Qualifying Offer (1): Forward, Dom Uher.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (7): Forwards, Tyler Biggs, Daniel O’Donoghue, Matthias Plachta and Anton Zlobin. Defensemen, James Melindy, Harrison Ruopp and Justin Schultz.
Washington Capitals:
Received Qualifying Offer (3): Forwards, Marcus Johansson and Tom Wilson. Defenseman, Dmitry Orlov.
Did Not Receive Qualifying Offer (1): Forward, Michael Latta.
Among the more interesting players who did not receive a qualifying offer include the trio from the Devils in Bennett, Merrill and Smith-Pelly. Bennett, acquired on Saturday in exchange for the 80th overall pick, is still someone who can bring value into a lineup. Merrill struggled but many believe he still has good upside and Smith-Pelly, acquired at the trade deadline for Stefan Matteau, fit in nicely in New Jersey, scoring 13 points in 18 games with the Devils. The three are expected to be working on extensions before July 1.
Another interesting name was Justin Schultz. Schultz, 25, was a highly-touted collegiate free agent after leaving the University of Wisconsin in 2012 and choosing to sign with the Oilers. He struggled to find his game after three and a half seasons and was traded to Pittsburgh at the deadline for a third round pick. His departure though is the result of a major cap crunch in Pittsburgh. It would have been too costly to retain his rights even at the minimum amount.
