TROIS-RIVIÈRES – The Trois-Rivières Lions (affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) have announced the list of players who have received qualifying offers. Like every other team in the ECHL, the Lions were permitted to extend up to eight qualifying offers to players listed on their End-of-Season Roster, which was released on June 23.
Here are the eight players (six forwards and two defensemen) who received qualifying offers from Lions management:
- Xavier Cormier (Forward)
- Logan Nijhoff (Forward)
- Isaac Dufort (Forward)
- Justin Ducharme (Forward)
- Nicolas Guay (Forward)
- Tyler Hylland (Forward)
- Wyatt McLeod (Defenseman)
- Kyle Havlena (Defenseman)
These players cannot be traded before July 22, and the offers extended to them will remain valid until that date inclusive. After the July 22 deadline, these players may be traded, as was the case last season when Matthew Boucher’s rights were traded to the Fort Wayne Komets (Edmonton Oilers) in exchange for the rights to Morgan Adams-Moisan. At the time, Boucher was on Trois-Rivières’ list of qualifying offer recipients.
If no trade occurs, the team will retain the ECHL rights to these players for the duration of the upcoming season.
It’s worth noting that last season, both Nicolas Guay and Justin Ducharme were included on the qualifying offer list despite having signed contracts in Europe. When they opted to return, the Lions still held their rights and were thus able to offer them new contracts to finish out the 2024–2025 season.