NHL qualifying – By the 5 p.m. ET Monday deadline, NHL teams decided which restricted free agents would receive qualifying offers and which would be cleared for unrestricted free agency. With restricted free-agent talks starting Tuesday and offer sheets opening Wednesday, the
The clock hit the deadline with a familiar NHL edge in the air: for teams, it was a choice about who to lock in and who to risk losing. For the players, it was a line between staying in the restricted free-agent cycle and stepping into unrestricted free agency.
Monday’s deadline landed at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT, and any restricted free agent who did not receive a qualifying offer becomes an unrestricted free agent. Restricted free agents can begin talking with teams on Tuesday, and they can sign offer sheets as of Wednesday, when free agency opens.
Here’s the latest ledger of who received a qualifying offer and who didn’t.
Vyacheslav Buteyets, Leo Carlsson, Calle Clang, Cutter Gauthier, Tyson Hinds, Pavel Mintyukov and Sasha Pastujov were among those receiving qualifying offers.
Anaheim’s situation is especially loaded: Carlsson and Gauthier are two of the Ducks’ most important players entering this stage after their entry-level contracts. Carlsson finished last season with 29 goals and 67 points. Gauthier posted 41 goals and 69 points.
Other received qualifying offers included Riley Duran, Ivan Ivan, Matt Poitras and Luke Cavallin, while Alexis Gendron, Jordan Harris and Max Wanner were listed as not receiving qualifying offers.
Peyton Krebs and Olen Zellweger received qualifying offers, while Isaac Belliveau, Olivier Nadeau, Zachary Jones and Nikita Novikov did not.
Simon Nemec. Brennan Othmann and William Stromgren received qualifying offers. while Parker Bell. Gavin White. Lucas Ciona. Artyom Grushnikov. John Beecher. Carter King and Owen Say were among the names not receiving qualifying offers. Nemec’s move already has the Flames’ attention—he was acquired in a trade with the New Jersey Devils last week. and Calgary is counting on him to be a key contributor on the blue line this season.
Noel Gunler. Aleksi Heimosalmi. Viktor Neuchev. Cayden Primeau. Justin Robidas. Ronan Seeley and Alexander Nikishin were on the qualifying-offer list. while Skyler Brind’Amour. Domenick Fensore. Amir Miftakhov and Nikita Quapp were not. Skyler Brind’Amour—son of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour—was one of four players not qualified by the team.
Connor Bedard, Drew Commesso, Kevin Korchinski and Ethan Del Mastro received qualifying offers. Ryan Mast and Dmitri Kuzmin did not.
Bedard’s qualifying offer came after he completed his entry-level contract, and he’s due a big raise this summer.
For the Blue Jackets, the qualifying-offer decisions arrived with a sense of what could come next. Danil Gushchin did not receive a qualifying offer. At the same time. as the Blue Jackets face potential departures of Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko. they made sure to take strides toward keeping other young talents in Fantilli and Greaves—Fantilli being the third overall pick in 2023. Fantilli posted 24 goals and 25 assists last season. while Greaves broke out in the net this season before playing for Team Canada at the world championship.
Mavrik Bourque, Arttu Hyry and Jason Robertson received qualifying offers, while Francesco Arcuri, Vladislav Kolyachonok, Benjamin Kraws, Kyle McDonald, Jeremie Poirier, Antonio Stranges, Samu Tuomaala and Chase Wheatcroft did not.
Robertson is coming off a 45-goal, 96-point season and is looking for a big raise. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Robertson declined a $15-million per season contract offer as part of a sign and trade with the Seattle Kraken. and reports suggest Robertson’s preference is to remain with the Stars.
Simon Edvinsson and Carter Gylander received qualifying offers, while Alexandre Doucet, Michael Milne, Carter Mazur, Jakub Rychlovsky and Wojciech Stachowiak were not.
There’s also a notable split for players tied to Anaheim’s recent past. Simon Edvinsson and Carter Gylander are not the only ones creating storyline gravity—Zegras and Drysdale are both former Anaheim Ducks and continue to cement their place with the Broad Street Bullies. Zegras, 25, enjoyed a rejuvenation with the Flyers, putting up a career-high 26 goals and 67 points last season. Drysdale is coming off a 78-game season with a career-high-tying 32 points.
The qualifying-offer updates around Philadelphia included Egor Chinakhov. David Gustafsson. Ville Koivunen. Hendrix Lapierre. Alex Alexeyev. Joel Blomqvist and Arturs Silovs receiving qualifying offers. Collin Graf and Shakir Mukhamadullin were also listed as receiving qualifying offers. while Noah Beck. Gabriel Carriere and Philipp Kurashev did not.
Other league-wide lists included names with qualifying offers and names without—New York’s tracker. for example. shows received qualifying offers as N/A. with Brendan Brisson. Massimo Rizzo. Hugo Ollas and Talyn Boyko not receiving qualifying offers. For the same New York group. Alex Jefferies. Joey Larson and Henrik Tikkanen received qualifying offers. while Cam Thiesing. Maxim Shabanov. Marc Gatcomb and Matt Maggio did not.
Leevi Merilainen and Xavier Bourgault received qualifying offers, while Arthur Kaliyev, Riley Kidney and Samuel Ersson were not.
Detroit’s internal list included Emil Andrae. Jacob Quillan. Nicholas Robertson. Ryan Tverberg and William Villeneuve receiving qualifying offers. while Matias Maccelli. Henry Thrun. Braeden Kressler. John Prokop and Vyacheslav Peksa did not. Maccelli becomes a free agent after just one year in Toronto. in which he had 14 goals and 39 points in 71 games while being a healthy scratch at times.
In Vancouver, Joseph received a qualifying offer. Joseph was originally a first-round pick of the Coyotes in 2017 and signed with the Canucks last summer. making 31 appearances last season. Grubbe was acquired at the trade deadline for Josh Bloom in a swap of minor-league forwards. Grubbe did not receive a qualifying offer. Aman posted 41 points in 55 games for the Abbotsford Canucks in 2025-26. while playing twice for Vancouver. but Aman received a qualifying offer. Klimovich. a second-round pick of the Canucks in 2021. spent the last five seasons in the AHL and Klimovich did not receive a qualifying offer.
In another cluster, Jakub Brabenec, Lukas Cormier, Jakub Demek, Joe Fleming and Akira Schmid received qualifying offers, while Ryan Hofer, Garin Bjorklund and Jesper Vikman did not.
Cole Perfetti and Tyrel Bauer received qualifying offers, while Jaret Anderson-Dolan did not. Perfetti took a step back offensively last year, scoring only 12 goals and 32 points in 68 games.
As Wednesday’s offer-sheet window approaches. the list of players who didn’t receive qualifying offers—Jeremie Biakabutuka. Kyle Master. Jan Mysak. Jaxsen Wiebe. Alexis Gendron. Jordan Harris. Max Wanner. Isaac Belliveau. Olivier Nadeau. Zachary Jones. Nikita Novikov. Parker Bell. Gavin White. Lucas Ciona. Artyom Grushnikov. John Beecher. Carter King. Owen Say. Skyler Brind’Amour. Domenick Fensore. Amir Miftakhov. Nikita Quapp. Ryan Mast. Dmitri Kuzmin. Danil Gushchin. Francesco Arcuri. Vladislav Kolyachonok. Benjamin Kraws. Kyle McDonald. Jeremie Poirier. Antonio Stranges.
Samu Tuomaala. Chase Wheatcroft. Alexandre Doucet. Michael Milne. Carter Mazur. Jakub Rychlovsky. Wojciech Stachowiak. Noah Beck. Gabriel Carriere. Philipp Kurashev. Brendan Brisson. Massimo Rizzo. Hugo Ollas. Talyn Boyko. Cam Thiesing. Maxim Shabanov. Marc Gatcomb. Matt Maggio. Arthur Kaliyev. Riley Kidney. Samuel Ersson. Grubbe. Christoffer Sedoff. Dalton Bancroft. Ryder Rolston. Jack Matier. Calen Addison. Tyler Brennan. Paul Cotter. Dylan Wendt. Ethan Samson. Matias Maccelli. Henry Thrun. Braeden Kressler. John Prokop. Vyacheslav Peksa. Anson Thornton. Michal Kunc.
Ryan Hofer. Garin Bjorklund. Jesper Vikman. Jaret Anderson-Dolan. and others listed without qualifying offers—has the kind of breadth teams can’t afford to ignore.
In the middle of all that, a qualifying-offer here or a missed one there isn’t just a roster technicality. It determines who can stay in restricted negotiations. who can be pulled into an offer-sheet battle. and which players are now free to shop their next contract without the RFA framework tightening around them.
NHL restricted free agency qualifying offer offer sheets free agency opens Wednesday Connor Bedard Jason Robertson Vyacheslav Buteyets Leo Carlsson Cutter Gauthier