Islanders Extend Five Qualifying Offers

Per CapFriendly, the New York Islanders extended qualifying offers to five players on Monday. Of the crop eligible, Noah Dobson, Alexander Romanov, Kieffer Bellows, Parker Wotherspoon, and Arnaud Durandeau were all extended the offer. By issuing the offers, teams are given the right of first refusal or draft choice compensation should the player sign an offer sheet with another team.

Of the restricted free agents that received a qualifying offer, only Bellows and Wotherspoon have arbitration rights. Michael Dal Colle did not receive a qualifying offer. Dal Colle was in the same situation last summer, however, re-signed with the Islanders on a one-year, $750,000 deal. He now has the opportunity to seek a contract with any of the 31 other teams in the NHL, or return to the Islanders much like last summer.

Dobson and Romanov are due for the largest pay raises of the five RFA's and it's likely Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello is working on hammering out those contracts in order to figure out what his other offseason transactions could look like. Bellows' case will be an interesting one, as stated earlier he has arbitration rights, and his six-goal, 19-point season is a career-best.

Wotherspoon and Durandeau should fetch minor league contracts. Durandeau, 23 years old, had an AHL career-best 15 goals and 37 points with the Bridgeport Islanders last season. Wotherspoon stayed consistent for Bridgeport putting up his third 23-plus point season on the B-Isles blue line. Durandeau is unlikely to see NHL action whereas Wotherspoon has an outside chance at a call-up, but appears to fall in the depth chart behind Robin Salo, Sebastian Aho, and Grant Hutton.