Monday was an important day on the NHL calendar with qualifying offers due by 5 PM Eastern Time. The Habs had 11 players to give offers to and elected to do so with eight while three others will become unrestricted free agents.
Players receiving offers were as follows:
Forwards: Brett Berard, Zachary Bolduc, Kirby Dach, Jared Davidson, Sean Farrell, and Hunter McKown
Defencemen: Maksymilian Szuber and Arber Xhekaj
Those not receiving offers were:
Forwards: Jake Chiasson and Joe Veleno
Defencemen: Gannon Laroque
Veleno is obviously the most notable of the three being let go. While his offer was only $990,000, it also carried eligibility for salary arbitration. With Veleno playing in 367 career NHL games, that would have yielded some considerably pricier comparables had his case gone to a hearing. Those comparables would have cost a lot more than Montreal was likely willing to pay to re-sign him, resulting in the non-tender. There is nothing stopping the team from signing him after the fact, either, although they may want the open roster spot.
As for Laroque and Chiasson, they were acquired in trades few likely remember. Laroque was the return in the Carey Price trade back in September but he hasn’t played in two years due to injuries and isn’t expected to play again. Chiasson, meanwhile, was brought in after the trade deadline in the Riley Kidney swap but only played in the ECHL before an injury ended his season prematurely.
Among those receiving offers, Dach’s is the most significant. His required offer is $4 million, which also carries arbitration rights. He will have until mid-July to accept the offer although he can also file for arbitration this weekend. If a contract isn’t finalized in the coming days, an arbitration filing is the likeliest outcome.
As for the other NHL players, Xhekaj’s qualifying offer comes in at $1.3 million with arbitration rights while Bolduc’s checks in at $874,125 without arbitration rights. Both of their offers were one-way while the others (Berard, Davidson, Farrell, McKown, and Szuber) all received two-way offers worth $850,000. All five of those players also have salary arbitration eligibility.