The Blackhawks will retain the rights to young star forwards Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome for the duration of the offseason.
Kubalik and Strome both received qualifying offers — largely a formality to preserve their restricted free agent status — before Wednesday’s deadline, sources confirmed to the Sun-Times.
Kubalik holds arbitration rights and could use them if contract negotiations with the Hawks, which are currently underway, don’t go as planned. Strome does not.
Goaltender Malcolm Subban, meanwhile, did not receive a QO and will become an unrestricted free agent Friday, per a source.
Defenseman Slater Koekkoek and forward Drake Caggiula also did not receive QOs, The Athletic’s Scott Powers reported.
Unlike most NHL teams, the Hawks don’t announce QOs publicly.
The Hawks weren’t expected to give QOs to any of their four minor-league RFAs: forwards Alexandre Fortin and Jacob Nilsson and defensemen Ian McCoshen and Joni Tuulola. Nilsson and Tuulola have both already signed with European teams for 2020-21.
Qualifying offers are, by rule, one-year contracts with salaries equaling 100% to 110% of a player’s previous salary.
With the salary cap staying flat this offseason and many teams hard-pressed for cap space, Wednesday was a bloodbath for RFAs around the league.
Edmonton’s Andreas Athanasiou, Vancouver’s Troy Stetcher and three notable former Hawks — Ottawa’s Anthony Duclair, Buffalo’s Dominik Kuhun and Arizona’s Vinny Hinostroza — were among those who unexpectedly did not receive QOs and will hit the open market Friday.
