The Colorado Avalanche extended qualifying offers to all of their restricted free agents except Denis Malgin and Ryan Merkley by the deadline to retain negotiating rights to those RFAs.
The list of players who have been extended qualifying offers is made up of Bo Byram, Ben Meyers, Justus Annunen, Sampo Ranta, Alex Newhook (who was traded to Montreal) and new trade acquisition Ross Colton.
Malgin and Merkley, both acquired in midseason trades during 2022-23, will become unrestricted free agents Saturday as a result of not receiving qualifying offers. Merkley didn’t appear in an Avalanche game, but Malgin scored 13 goals in 65 games and even slotted into Colorado’s top-six forward group when the team was dealing with injuries.