Luukkonen, Jokiharju, Krebs and Malenstyn get offers; Bryson, Stillman and Sjallin become unrestricted free agents
Sunday June 30th at 5pm EST was the deadline for teams to extend qualifying offers to their own restricted free agents, and the Buffalo Sabres had seven players on their roster that were coming up to the deadline.
The Sabres announced just before the deadline that four players had been given qualifying offers – goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, defenseman Henri Jokiharju, center Peyton Krebs and one of the newest Sabres, winger Beck Malenstyn who was traded from the Washington Capitals yesterday.
With offers extended to the players, this maintains their restricted free agent status, which then allows the Sabres the right to match offer sheets for any of the four players once free agency opens on Monday July 1st at noon. Offer-sheeted players can then accept Buffalo’s qualifying offer or continue to negotiate the terms of a new deal.
Three players however will become unrestricted free agents tomorrow, all three defensemen – Jacob Bryson, Riley Stillman, and Calle Sjalin.