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Among the June business in the NHL is issuing qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
The New York Islanders have their share of RFAs -- though the five-year extension for arbitration-eligible Casey Cizikas takes him off the list -- to qualify by this year's deadline of 5 p.m. EDT on June 27.
Players who don't receive qualifying offers become unrestricted free agents. But it's usually a simple paper move a team does make to retain their rights and, in the case of players due big raises, extend the negotiating period (think Josh Bailey and Brock Nelson's current extensions, reached at the end of summer) while they work out a new agreement.
The QO always includes a CBA-mandated salary that is either the same as last season, a five percent raise, or 10 percent raise (more on that below).
The scenarios:
- Team doesn't issue QO, player becomes UFA
- Team issues QO, player accepts and is thus signed for another year
- Team issues QO, parties continue to negotiate and agree to terms beyond QO
- Team issues QO, player elects for arbitration (if eligible), sides play chicken before hearing
The raises (or status quo) are based on the player's current base salary (i.e. compensation minus bonuses), per CBA's 10.2 (a) (ii):
- 110% of the base salary if base less than or equal to $660,000
- 105% of the base salary if base is greater than $660,000 or less than $1,000,000. However, this qualifying offer cannot exceed $1,000,000.
- No raise if the base salary is already equal to or greater than $1,000,000
According to Cap Friendly, here are the Islanders due qualifying offers this month:
| Player | 2015-16 Base (NHL) | Qualifying Offer Base (inc. raise) |
| Ryan Strome | $832,500 | $874,125 |
| Scott Mayfield | $832,500 | $874,125 |
| James Wright | $800,000 | $840,000 |
| Kirill Petrov | $787,500 | $826,875 |
| Shane Prince | $700,000 | $735,000 |
| Justin Vaive | $650,000 | $715,000 |
| Alan Quine | $600,000 | $660,000 |
| Christopher Gibson | $600,000 | $660,000 |
| Jean-Francois Berube | $575,000 | $632,500 |
- General Fanager has a nice list of Isles contracts, but the table includes bonuses. Cap Friendly has a handy calculator where you can pull by player or team to see base salaries.
- The two sites disagree on whether Wright is UFA or RFA, but looks to me like RFA.
- Strome's QO has to be a one-way offer, which means the same salary for the AHL as the NHL, but no matter: His AHL days are behind him.