Flames Qualify 12 Players, 2 Players Walk

With free agency looming on Wednesday and the deadline to qualify restricted free agents hitting today, the Calgary Flames took care of business this afternoon. Of their 14 restricted free agents, the Flames sent qualifying offers to 12 of them. Those players were:

As a result of these players being qualified, the Flames will hold the final say on their negotiating rights once free agency opens on Wednesday. Should any of them choose to sign an offer sheet, Calgary has the right to match and retain the player.

It is somewhat interesting to see the Flames qualify Lerby and Yelesin as both are heading back to Europe after playing with Stockton this past season. Other than that, there aren’t any real surprises.

Two players were not qualified by the team (Dominik Simon and Artyom Zagidulin) meaning they will be unrestricted free agents on Wednesday. Simon isn’t a surprise as he struggled to make any sort of NHL impact despite having a decent few years in Pittsburgh before this. Zagidulin is a bit surprising given that he saw a bit of NHL time last year, however the Flames are likely making room for Dustin Wolf to move into an AHL role.

by Michael MacGillivray