Today, the NHL deadline for issuing qualifying articles to RFAs passed at 5pm, and the Philadelphia Flyers made seven offers. Among those offers include notable players who spent the majority of last season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in Anthony Stolarz, Alex Lyon. Taylor Leier, Scott Laughton, and Cole Bardreau.
A qualifying offer can be made to players who will be restricted free agents at the end of their contract. A player can only declare themselves to be a restricted free agent if they have played 7 seasons in league or is over the age of 27. When issued a qualifying offer, a player can either accept it and receive a 1-year contract from the team that qualified them, deny it and become an unrestricted free agent, or wait it out and wait to see if they receive offer sheets from other teams in an attempt to steal the player.
Anthony Stolarz is entering his 4th season of professional hockey with 7 appearances in the NHL with the Flyers under his belt. In those 7 games, he recorded a .928 save percentage. Spending the majority of the past 3 seasons with the Phantoms, he posted a .911 save percentage in 29 games last year. At 23, he will most likely be up with the Flyers next season.
Alex Lyon is entering his 2nd season of professional hockey. After ending his Yale University career with a .939 and .936 save percentage in his sophomore and junior years respectively, the 24-year old made the jump to the pros with the Phantoms in the AHL, posting a .912 save percentage in 47 games.
Taylor Leier is entering his 4th season of professional hockey. In 16 NHL games, he has recorded 2 points with 1 goal and 1 assist. Last season, he recorded 37 points in 48 games with the Phantoms. In a brutal 5-game series against the Hershey Bears in the playoffs last year, he recorded only 1 point. In 192 total AHL games, the 23-year old left winger has recorded 117 points.
Scott Laughton is entering his 6th season of professional hockey. Perhaps the most controversial selection of the Flyers’ protection list for the expansion draft, the 23-year old center is being given perhaps his final chance to impress the Flyers’ top brass. Seen as someone who has not played up to his initial potential, it’ll be interesting to see who he plays with coming out of the Flyers’ training camp this coming season. In 109 NHL games, he has only recorded 27 points. The majority of his NHL time has come in the 2015-16 season where he played 71 games and recorded 21 points. In 105 AHL games, he has recorded 69 points. He recorded 39 points in 60 games with the Phantoms last year. In the playoffs, he had 3 points in 5 total games.
Cole Bardreau is entering his 4th season of professional hockey and his 3rd full season. Since becoming a professional, he has only suited up for the Phantoms. Last year was a down year for the 23-year old forward as he recorded only 24 points in 72 games compared to the 30 points in 54 games he put up in the 2015-16 season. In 141 AHL games, he has recorded 56 points. This could be the most important season of Bardreau’s career.
The Flyers have also tendered qualifying offers to Roman Lyubimov and Mike Vecchione.
Originally published on GNGHockey.com