Walleye extend qualifying offers to six players

Connor Crisp, right, was one of six players to whom the Walleye gave a qualifying offer.

The Blade/Kurt Steiss
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The Toledo Walleye made qualifying offers to Connor Crisp, Colin Jacobs, Simon Denis, Kevin Lohan, Ryan Obuchowski, and Christian Hilbrich, thereby reserving the rights to each until at least mid-July.

Connor Crisp, right, was one of six players to whom the Walleye gave a qualifying offer.

The team announced the offers Monday in a release.

The offers remain on the table until July 16, after which the proposal expires and the player can become a restricted free agent. If any player makes it to Aug. 1 without an ECHL contract or offer sheet, he becomes an unrestricted free agent.

League rules dictate that teams can extend offers to as many as eight qualified players. Only four of those can be veterans, defined as players who have appeared in 260 regular-season games as a professional.

Five of the players to whom the team extended offers were a significant portion of last season’s Central Division champions.

Despite playing only 49 games, Denis had 35 points, tying for the team lead among defensemen along with Obuchowski, who played 72 games and led the team in plus/​minus. Denis already has signed a contract with a South Korean team for next season.

Hilbrich was second on the team with 23 goals, while Crisp had 30 points in 44 games with Toledo. Jacobs, a midseason acquisition, had 31 points in 55 ECHL games last season.

Lohan, a 6-foot-5 defenseman who played college hockey at Michigan, made six appearances for Toledo.

Contact Nicholas Piotrowicz at: npiotrowicz@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @NickPiotrowicz.