According to the website SwissHabs Sven Andrighetto, Daniel Carr, Mark Barberio, and Phillip Danault have all received qualifying offers from Montreal Canadiens General Manager Marc Bergevin. The case of Danault was already known, but this news confirms three more players who Bergevin intends to sign to new deals with the club as restricted free agents this summer.
In the case of Andrighetto, Carr, and Danault, their entry level deals have expired. For Barberio he will be looking for his fifth professional contract, as he signed only single year deals since the expiration of his entry-level contract.
Under the terms of the National Hockey League Collective Bargaining Agreement, there is a certain minimum that would need to be offered as part of the qualifying offer based on the previous season’s salary:
- Andrighetto and Barberio, making less than $660K last season, would need to be offered a minimum of 110% of last year’s salary (Andrighetto $726K, Barberio $660K).
- Carr and Danault, earning between $660K and $1M, would need to be offered a minimum of 105% of last year’s salary, but not exceed $1M. (Carr $981,750, Danault $915,750)./
These are of course starting figures to retain the rights to the players, and by their nature only a single season offer open for further negotiation including performance and signing bonuses and term.
All four players are eligible to receive a two-way qualifying offer because they have played less than 180 NHL games in total, and no more than 60 games in the past season. A two-way qualifying offer must also guarantee a minor league salary no less than they previously earned.
The remaining players who would need to receive a qualifying offer by 5:00pm on Monday June 27th are Mac Bennett, Morgan Ellis, Lucas Lessio, Darren Dietz, Joel Hanley and Michael Bournival. It was already reported yesterday that Bournival’s agent is yet to hear from the Canadiens regarding a contract extension.
Also if the club is interested in keeping the rights to Magnus Nygren and Joonas Nattinen, both currently under contract in Sweden after leaving North America, then they too would need to receive symbolic qualifying offers.
Should the club fail to qualify these players they would becoming unrestricted free agents on July 1st, free to sign with any other team. A qualifying offer cannot be accepted before July 1st.
