Eight Lions with qualifying offers

Trois-Rivières, Monday, July 10, 2023 - Like all other ECHL teams, the Lions de Trois-Rivières had until July 7, 2023 to submit their list of players who received a qualifying offer. Each team can protect the rights of a maximum of eight players appearing on the season-ending roster submitted last June 23. This procedure allows each team to maintain the rights of these players for all the upcoming season.

Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2023-24 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to June 7, 2023.         The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until 11:59 p.m. EDT on July 22, 2023 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 11:59 p.m. ET on July 22, 2023. After July 22, 2023, 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. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player’s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent 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 11:59 p.m. EDT on August 8, 2023, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Qualified players

Forwards : Zach Kaiser, Nicolas Guay, Cole Gallant

Defensemen : Bradley Johnson, Sam Dunn, Connor Welsh, Shane Kuzmeski, Alex Breton

For more information, please visit www.lions3r.com. For team photos, visit https://bit.ly/Lions3rmedias.