The Edmonton Oilers have made decisions on their crop of restricted free agents, announcing on Wednesday that the team has extended qualifying offers to defencemen Ethan Bear and William Lagesson.
That leaves eight other RFAs without offers from Edmonton, now set to become unrestricted free agents: forwards Andreas Athanasiou, Cameron Hebig, Ryan Kuffner and Nolan Vesey, defencemen Matt Benning, Logan Day and Ryan Mantha, and goaltender Angus Redmond.
Oilers general manager Ken Holland said during a draft night interview Tuesday evening that Athanasiou and Benning would be hitting the open market Friday.
Bear, 23, put together a strong rookie campaign in 2019-20 after getting his first taste of the NHL in an 18-game sample the year before. In 71 games this past season, Bear registered five goals and 16 assists for 21 points while quickly cementing himself as an important piece on the Oilers’ blue line going forward.
Lagesson, 24, has appeared in just eight NHL games with Edmonton, all in 2019-20, and spent the majority of the past two seasons with the club’s AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. He’s currently skating with HC Vita Hasten of the second-tier Swedish league.
The deadline for teams to extend qualifying offers to their RFAs is Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET.
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