Flames qualifying offer decisions are surprisingly easy

Folks, there’s going to be a ton of newsworthy things happening in the hockey world this week. The Calgary Flames could do a lot of things. First up? Qualifying offers are due at 3 p.m. MT on Wednesday to pending restricted free agents, and the Flames have seven potential RFAs to deal with.

That said, the Flames don’t really have tough decisions to make regarding their RFAs this off-season.

For the curious, the amount of a player’s qualifying offer is based on their NHL-level salary in the final year of their deal (regardless of if they were in the NHL or not).

Group 2 RFAs have accumulated enough pro experience to qualify for an offer sheet. The Flames need to tender a qualifying offer to retain negotiation rights.

The Flames’ 2012 first round pick, Jankowski is 26 years old. He’s played 208 NHL regular season games (and 10 playoffs) with Calgary. Because of his experience level, he would require a $1.75 million, one-way qualifying offer. If he didn’t accept that qualifying offer, he would have the option to file for salary arbitration.

The issue with Jankowski is the heftiness of his qualifying offer in a flat cap world. If the cap was going up a bunch, sinking $1.75 million into a fourth line centre would be okay. Now? That’s way too much, especially for a player Jankowski’s age who seems like he may have topped out developmentally. It is unlikely Jankowski will be qualified.

A second round selection in 2015, Kylington is 23 years old and has cemented himself as a tweener in the Flames organization – he’s too good for the AHL but hasn’t grabbed onto an NHL niche quite yet. He’s played 87 NHL games with Calgary. He’ll require a two-way qualifying offer worth $787,500. He’s virtually a lock to receive it.

He’ll require waivers in 2020-21 to be sent to the AHL, so it’ll be interesting to see how he’s handled. It’s noteworthy that Kylington’s already played enough NHL games to avoid becoming a Group 6 free agent in a couple seasons.

A sixth round pick in 2015, Mangiapane is an NHL regular now at the age of 24. He’s played 122 games for the Flames and was a breakout player in 2019-20. His qualifying offer is a two-way at $750,750. He’ll be qualified. He also has arbitration rights, so it’ll be interesting to see how quickly the Flames come to terms with him on a new deal.

Nielsen came to the Flames in a swap with Toronto in exchange for Morgan Klimchuk. He’s 23 and has played zero NHL games. His qualifying offer would be a two-way worth $735,000, but he’s already signed in Austria with EHC Linz (and he’s changed agents) and so it would seem extremely unlikely that he’ll be qualified.

A second round pick in 2016, the 23-year-old Parsons has spent more time in the minors (and the sidelines) than anyone would have preferred. Dealing with some mental health challenges and injury issues over the past few seasons, Parsons has been a damn fine minor league goalie when he’s been able to play on a regular basis. His qualifying offer is a two-way at $735,000 and he’s a lock to be re-upped. He’ll probably tandem with Artyom Zagidulin in Stockton whenever the season gets going.

Section 10.2(c) RFAs have not accumulated enough pro experience to qualify for an offer sheet. The Flames need to tender a qualifying offer to retain negotiation rights.

Drafted by St. Louis in 2015 but not signed, the 23-year-old Gawdin has spent two years pro with the Flames and is knocking on the door for an NHL gig. His qualifying offer is a two-way at $787,500. He’ll be qualified, and he might be pushing for Jankowski’s old job as fourth line centre when hockey resumes.

Signed out of training camp a few seasons ago after he impressed Flames scouts, the 23-year-old Schneider has been perfectly fine as an ECHL backup. His qualifying offer would be a two-way at a scant $735,000, but he’s probably not being qualified because it seems unlikely that the Flames want to use an NHL contract spot on someone with ECHL upside.

To summarize the qualifying offer predictions: