Restricted Free Agents: Who’s Getting a Qualifying Offer?

(Photo: US Presswire)

The NHL has two classifications for the free agents when they reach the end of their contract term: restricted free agents (RFAs) and unrestricted free agents (UFAs). Unrestricted free agent, as the name implies. have much more freedom in where they sign for the next season. They are players that are either 27 years of age or older or have played 7 seasons.

Restricted free agents (players that are under 27-years-old and have played fewer than 7 seasons) could potentially have fewer options. This season, teams have until 5pm EST on June 30th to make qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. Any RFAs not receiving a qualifying offer become unrestricted free agents. Once a qualifying offer has been issued, the team retains the rights to negotiate with that player. The team also retains the right to match any offer made to the player by another team interested in signing him.

To make it easier on all of you, we’ve compiled a list of which teams have issued qualifying offers so far and who got them. This list does not include any players who have already signed extensions. The deadline has passed, but some teams have not yet released the information.

Anaheim Ducks
No information available at this time

Arizona Coyotes
Issued qualifying offers
Forwards: Brandon McMillan, Jordan Szwarz

Not issued qualifying offs: Mathieu Brodeur, Justin Weller

Boston Bruins
Issued qualifying offers
Forwards: Reilly Smith, Matt Fraser, Jordan Caron, Justin Florek, Craig Cunningham, Tyler Randell
Defensemen: Torey Krug, Matt Bartkowski, Zach Trotman, David Warsofsky, Tommy Cross

No RFAs were left without qualifying offers

Buffalo Sabres
Issued qualifying offers
Forwards: Luke Adam
Defensemen: Chad Ruhwedel
Goalie: Matt Hackett

Not issued qualifying offer: Cory Conacher, Connor Knapp, Jamie McBain

Calgary Flames
Issued qualifying offers
Forwards: Joe Colborne, Lance Bouma, Ben Hanowski
Defensemen: Chad Billins, Mark Cundari
Goalie: Joni Ortio

Not issued qualifying offers: Paul Byron, TJ Galiardi, David Eddy, James Martin, Olivier Roy

Carolina Hurricanes
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Zach Boychuk, Greg Nemisz, Justin Shugg, Jiri Tlusty
Defensemen: Michal Jordan, Rasmus Rissanen

Not issued qualifying offer: Andrei Loktionov, Drayson Bowman, Aaron Palushaj, Kellen Tochkin, Tommi Kivisto

Chicago Blackhawks
No information available at this time

Colorado Avalanche
Issued qualifying offers
Forward: Joey Hishon

Not getting qualifying offer: Ryan O’Reilly (arbitration)

Columbus Blue Jackets
Issued qualifying offers
Forwards: Ryan Johansen, Cory Tropp, Sean Collins, Dana Tyrell
Defensemen: David Savard, Tim Erixon, Cody Goloubef, Will Weber

Not issued qualifying offers: Oliver Gabriel, Anton Blomqvist

Dallas Stars
Issued qualifying offers
Forward: Cody Eakin, Antoine Roussel, Scott Glennie
Defensemen: Brenden Dillon, Cameron Gaunce

Not issued qualifying offer: Ryan Button, Dustin Jeffrey, Tristan King, Hubert Labrie, Austin Smith

Detroit Red Wings
Not issued qualifying offer: Cory Emmerton, Gleason Fournier, Max Nicastro, Trevor Parkes, Willie Coetzee

Edmonton Oilers
Issued qualifying offers
Forwards: Luke Gazdic, Andrew Miller, Tyler Pitlick, Curtis Hamilton, Roman Horak
Defensemen: Justin Schultz, Jeff Petry
Goalie: Richard Bachman

Not issued qualifying offer: Phillip Larsen

Florida Panthers
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Jimmy Hayes, Brandon Pirri, Ryan Martindale, Garrett Wilson
Defensemen: Erik Gudbranson, Dmitry Kulikov, Dylan Olsen

Not issued qualifying offer: Jonathan Hazen, Anthony Luciani, Mattias Lindstrom, Steven Anthony

LA Kings
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Dwight King, Andy Andreoff
Defensemen: Brayden McNabb
Goalie: JF Berube

Not issued qualifying offers: James Livingston, Steve Quailer, Jonathan Parker

Minnesota Wild
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Justin Fontaine, Nino Niederreiter, Jason Zucker
Defensemen: Jonathon Blum,
Goalie: Darcy Kuemper

Not issued qualifying offer: Tyler Cuma, Kris Foucault

Montreal Canadiens
Issued qualifying offers:
Forward: Lars Eller
Defenseman: PK Subban

Not issued qualifying offer: Ryan White

Nashville Predators
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm

Not issued qualifying offers: Michael Del Zotto, Joonas Rask, Charles-Olivier Rousel

New Jersey Devils
Not issued qualifying offers: Riley Boychuk, Harry Young

NY Islanders
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Anders Lee, Casey Cizikas
Defensemen: Matt Donovan, Calvin de Haan
Goalies: Anders Nilsson, Kevin Poulin

NY Rangers
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Derrick Brassard, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello
Defenseman: John Moore

Not getting qualifying offer: Justin Falk

Ottawa Senators
Not issued qualifying offer: Ben Blood, Wacey Hamilton, Corey Cowick

Philadelphia Flyers
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Jason Akeson, Tye McGinn, Brandon Manning
Defensemen: Erik Gustafsson

No information about players not issued qualifying offers

Pittsburgh Penguins
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Brandon Sutter, Nick Spaling, Jayson Megna, Bobby Farnham
Defensemen: Simon Despres, Philip Samuelsson

Not issued qualifying offers: Spencer Machacek, Harry Zolnierczyk, Zach Sill

San Jose Sharks
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Tommy Wingels, James Sheppard
Defensemen: Jason Demers, Matt Tennyson, Taylor Doherty
Goaltender: Harri Sateri

Not issued qualifying offers: Sena Acolatse, Brodie Reid, Nick Petrecki, Marek Viedensky, Sebastian Stalberg, Adam Comrie

St. Louis Blues
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Vladimir Sobotka, Jaden Schwartz, Sergey Andronov, Sebastian Wannstrom
Defensemen: David Shields

Not issued qualifying offers: Tyler Shattock, Brett Ponich

Tampa Bay Lightning
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: Richard Panik, Brett Connolly, Cody Kunyk, Phillipe Paradis
Defensemen: Dmitry Korobov, Andrej Sustr

Not issued qualifying offers: Keith Aulie, Charles Landry, Geoff Walker, Anders Lindback

Toronto Maple Leafs

No information given

Vancouver Canucks
Issued qualifying offers:
Forward: Zack Kassian
Defenseman: Chris Tanev

Not issued qualifying offers: Yannick Weber, Zac Dalpe, Jordan Schroeder

Washington Capitals
Issued qualifying offers:
Forward: Michael Latta
Defensemen: Chad Schilling, Nate Schmidt
Goalie: Eddie Pasquale (recently acquired from Jets)

Not getting qualifying offer: Nicolas Deschamps, Brett Flemming, Peter LcBlanc (signed overseas)

Winnipeg Jets
Issued qualifying offers:
Forwards: John Albert, Carl Klingberg, Patrice Cormier, Eric O’Dell
Defensemen: Ben Chiarot
Goalie: Michael Hutchinson

Not issued qualifying offer: Keaton Ellerby, Matt Halishuk

This list only includes the information available so far. For more information about who’s under contract, how long contracts are for, and how much players are making, check out Cap Geek.