Hockey’s busy season means news break left and right and sometimes on Monday night.
The Buffalo Sabres just announced that they’ve issued qualifying offers to seven restricted free agents: Mark Pysyk, Johan Larsson, Tim Schaller, Nathan Lieuwen, Jerry D’Amigo, Phil Varone, and Jerome Gauthier-Leduc.
The Sabres have tendered qualifying offers to seven RFAs: D’Amigo, Larsson, Leduc, Lieuwen, Pysyk, Schaller, Varone http://t.co/2pJGbjvG1i
— Sabres PR (@SabresPR) June 29, 2015
They did not qualify Zac Dalpe, Kevin Sundher, and Jordan Samuels-Thomas, who will now hit the open market.
Pysyk and Larsson were no-brainer offers, as both are expected to make a significant contribution next season in the NHL. As for the others, Varone, D’Amigo, and Schaller all saw decent time last season in the NHL, while Lieuwen and Gauthier-Leduc have shown enough promise in the past to warrant some more time.
Give us your thoughts on the offers – and those not given an offer – in the comments.