Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase are heading for unrestricted free agency. The Bruins announced Monday afternoon that they did not extend a qualifying offer to either restricted free agent, meaning they are now set to hit the open market when free agency begins Wednesday at noon.
The Bruins also did not qualify minor-leaguer Robert Lantosi, but did extend qualifying offers to forward Zach Senyshyn and goalie Callum Booth. Booth had to be qualified last week so the Bruins could expose him in the Seattle expansion draft and fulfill the minimum exposure requirements.
The Bruins also signed defenseman Nick Wolff to a one-year, two-year contract with an NHL cap hit of $750,000.
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had said last week that he would extending qualifying offers to all the Bruins' RFAs, which was especially surprising in Kase's case. Clearly, Sweeney either misspoke or reconsidered over the weekend.
Kase's qualifying offer would've been $2.6 million, which would have been crazy for a player who has missed so much time due to injury. Ritchie's qualifying offer would've been $2 million, but he was also arbitration eligible and probably would have ended up with closer to $3 million per year if he went to arbitration.
Ritchie scored a career-high 15 goals last season, but struggled in the playoffs, scoring once in 11 games as the Bruins' third and fourth lines struggled to contribute offensively.
The Bruins could still continue to negotiate with Ritchie and/or Kase in the hopes of signing them for less money, but they will be free to talk to other teams when free agency begins Wednesday at noon.
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