For Immediate Release: July 3, 2017

CYCLONES EXTEND QUALIFYING OFFERS TO EIGHT

Cincinnati Reserves the Rights to Five Forwards and Three Defenseman

Cincinnati, OH- The Cincinnati Cyclones, in conjunction with the ECHL, have extended qualifying offers to eight players from this past season. The full list of qualified players can be found below.

2017 Qualifying Offers

Forwards: Nick Huard, Brandon McNally, Shawn O’Donnell, Jordan Sims, Shane Walsh

Defensemen:  Craig Dalrymple, Martin Lefebvre, Eric Knodel

Per ECHL rules, each team is entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players, and of those eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2017-18 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. 

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until August 1, at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary, or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season. 

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player, or to a goaltender who has played more than 180 regular-season games, will retain the rights to that player until August 1. After that date, if the veteran player or goaltender is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran or goaltender shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. 

Restricted free agents may not be traded, and when they receive a contract offer from a team other than the team with their rights and they wishes to accept the contract offer, the player and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player’s rights, and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. The member with the player’s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer. 

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by August 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent. Additionally, players who had already signed a contract by June 30 did not need to receive a qualifying offer. 

The 2016-17 season has come to a close, and the march towards 2017 First Face-off is ON! The Cincinnati Cyclones want to thank you for all of your support this past season, and invite you to stay tuned in the coming weeks and months for information on tickets and promotions for the 2017-18 season, great offseason events like Concrete Clones, and MORE! Call (513) 421-PUCK for information regarding your Cyclones, and you can also get the latest team updates on Facebook, Twitter (@CincyCyclones), and Instagram, along with our website, www.cycloneshockey.com!