As Tuesday’s free-agency kickoff loomed, Monday was the deadline for all 32 NHL teams, including the Ducks, to submit qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
A qualifying offer is tendered for the purposes of retaining a restricted free agent’s negotiating rights. The Ducks’ two most notable RFAs, goaltender Lukáš Dostál and forward Mason McTavish, are sure to earn well above their qualifying offers ultimately.
They were among the eight Ducks to be tendered qualifying offers. NCAA free-agent signing Tim Washe, who inked a free-agent deal and played two games at center after winning the national title with Western Michigan, was also a lock to be qualified, as were forward Sam Colangelo and defenseman Drew Helleson.
Prospects Jan Myšák (center), Calle Clang (goalie) and Judd Caufield (winger) were also qualified.
A trio of RFAs were not offered contracts, two of whom were regulars in orange last season. In addition to prospect Josh Lopina, neither forward Brett Leason nor center Isac Lundeström were tendered.
Leason was a waiver pickup from the Washington Capitals whom the Ducks thought could be an impact player on their third line. He was, intermittently, but found himself in and out of the lineup in what appeared to be an ongoing series of wakeup calls.
Lundeström, a 2018 first-round pick, recovered from a torn Achilles tendon two years ago and was a trusted player last season under Greg Cronin. Yet he was likely squeezed out by the acquisition of former Philadelphia Flyers center Ryan Poehling in the Trevor Zegras trade, as Poehling offers more size and scoring prowess.
The Ducks will enter the free-agency period with the second most available salary cap dollars in the league and effectively the most given their newfound willingness to spend on coaching and player personnel alike.
That might not be the advantage it seems as the free-agent market shriveled on Monday. Mitch Marner went to Vegas in a sign-and-trade agreement, while Brad Marchand (Florida), Aaron Ekblad (Florida) and Ivan Provorov (Columbus) all re-upped with their respective clubs.