With the start of NHL free agency just days away, the Boston Bruins on Monday extended qualifying offers to six soon-to-be restricted free agents.
Defensemen Chris Casto, Torey Krug, Colin Miller and Joe Morrow all received qualifying offers from the team, as did forwards Alex Khokhlachev and Brian Ferlin. The Bruins will retain negotiating rights to each player once free agency opens Friday.
Even more notable, however, was the trio of impending RFAs who were not qualified: forwards Brett Connolly, Landon Ferraro and Ben Sexton. All three now are in line to become unrestricted free agents, though the Bruins still will have the ability to re-sign them if they so choose.
While Sexton spent all of last season with Providence and wasn’t expected to factor into Boston’s future plans, Connolly and Ferraro both played significant roles for the 2015-16 Bruins. The Connolly decision was especially surprising, as the Bruins traded two second-round draft picks for the 24-year-old winger less than two years ago.
Connolly tallied nine goals and 16 assists in 71 games this season, many of which were spent on a line with top-flight Bruins forwards Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Ferraro played in 58 games as a fourth-liner and penalty-killer after being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings in late November.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Rempel/USA TODAY Sports Images
