Ahead of the 5 p.m. deadline, the Hurricanes have extended qualifying offers to Phil Di Giuseppe, Jake Chelios and Brock McGinn.
By doing so, Carolina retains the rights to the three pending restricted free agents. The group now remains property of the Hurricanes, though contracts must still be signed in order for them to return to the fold next season.
Di Giuseppe, 23, has split each of the last two seasons between the NHL and AHL, logging 77 games with Carolina along the way. With the Checkers, the University of Michigan product has been a strong offensive weapon, including racking up 28 points and a career-high 12 goals last season while only appearing in 40 AHL games.
Chelios, 26, earned his first NHL contract last summer after an impressive debut campaign with the Checkers. The blue liner took another step forward this past season, leading all Charlotte defensemen with a career-best 32 points. The undrafted Chelios also served as an alternate captain for the Checkers last season, even taking over the captaincy for a handful of games while Patrick Brown was in the NHL.
McGinn, 23, spent the majority of his first two pro seasons with the Checkers before making the jump to the NHL last year, recording 16 points in 57 games with the Hurricanes. He appeared in nine games for Charlotte at the start of the season, netting 5 goals and eight points.
Not receiving qualifying offers were forwards Andrej Nestrasil and Erik Karlsson and goaltender Daniel Altshuller, meaning all three will become unrestricted free agents on Saturday.
Nestrasil, 26, joined the Checkers midway through last season, his first full-time AHL stint since 2013-14. The Czech forward, coming off a season-ending injury the year before, got off to a hot start with Charlotte and finished the season with 14 points in 39 games. In three seasons with the Hurricanes, Nestrasil tallied 46 points in 115 games.
Karlsson, 22, recorded 16 points in 91 games with the Checkers over the last two seasons, and has already inked a deal with Timra IK in Sweden’s second-highest league. Altshuller, 22, split his three-year career between the Checkers and the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.
Despite not qualifying those three, the Hurricanes could still pursue any of them once free agency opens on Saturday.
