With two days until the NHL‘s free-agent window opens up, teams have made qualifying offers to pending RFAs. With guys getting offers comes players who fell short of the mark and didn’t receive a qualifying offer. Those players will be on the open market starting July 28 at noon eastern time. The following is a list of notable names that didn’t receive qualifying offers from their club.
Notable Players Who Didn’t Receive Qualifying Offers
Forwards
Pius Suter, David Kampf, Nick Ritchie, Ondrej Kase, Mark Jankowski, Jujhar Khaira, Lucas Wallmark, Dominik Kahun, and Danton Heinen, Evgeny Svechnikov, and Ryan Donato. Also not receiving offers were forwards Cliff Pu, Dominik Simon, Marko Dano, Brandon Gignac, and Jayce Hawryluk.
Defence and Goalies
Colby Sissons, Julius Honka, and Lucas Carlsson are the most notable defencemen not receiving qualifying offers from their teams. There were ten goaltenders who were left un-offered as well. Notably unqualified was Ottawa Senators goalie Marcus Hogberg who played 14 games this past season in net for Ottawa.
How This Affects Free Agency
With a total of 64 players not receiving qualifying offers, it adds more names for teams to look at this summer. Especially the more notable, proven players of the list have a second chance to be an NHL regular and potentially make more money. The bulk of the list are forwards, but there are some quality guys that can sit and develop in the AHL to be a ‘next man up’ in case of injuries through the season.
There are plenty of players on this list who could be NHL-level talent next season somewhere else. Pius Suter, for example, spent his time playing second-line minutes with the Chicago Blackhawks and produced great numbers. He could fit nicely into a bottom-six of a cup-contending team, or anywhere else for that matter too. The same could be said of Ondrej Kase from the Boston Bruins, Dominik Kahun from the Edmonton Oilers, and a lot of the other top-six potential talent on the list.
Main Photo:
CHICAGO, IL – MARCH 07: Chicago Blackhawks center Pius Suter (24) reacts after scoring a goal in action during a game between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Tampa Bay Lightning at the United Center on March 7, 2021, in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
