Devils Release Qualifying Offers to Five Players
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NEWARK, N.J. -- The New Jersey Devils have issued qualifying offers to five pending restricted free agents.
Forwards Dawson Mercer, Nolan Foote, and Adam Beckman have received qualifying offers from the team, as have defenseman Santeri Hatakka and goaltender Nico Daws.
Mercer played 82 regular-season games for the Devils in 2023-24, scoring 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points. He has appeared in 246 consecutive NHL games and has hit the 30-point mark in every season of his young career.
Foote, who has been dealing with and recovering from a lower back injury disc issue, appeared in four games this past season, scoring one goal. The 23-year-old has appeared in 23 career games for New Jersey and has eight points (six goals, two assists).
Hatakka, 23, made his Devils debut on Jan. 22, 2024, against the Vegas Golden Knights. He split time between New Jersey and the Utica Comets of the American Hockey League. He had two assists in 12 games with the Devils and averaged 14 minutes of ice time.
Daws appeared in 21 games this season, winning nine appearances. He concluded the 2023-24 campaign with a 3.15 goals-against average and .894 save percentage. Daws finished the season with the Comets and played 10 games in the AHL.
The team traded pending restricted free agent Graeme Clarke to the Minnesota Wild on June 21 for Beckman. New Jersey additionally moved goaltender Akira Schmid to the Golden Knights on June 29.
As Chris Johnston of The Athletic reported, "Four of the Canadian world junior players facing sexual assault charges won't be tendered a qualifying offer and have effectively been cut loose by their NHL teams: Carter Hart (Philadelphia Flyers), Dillon Dubé (Calgary Flames), Michael McLeod (Devils) and Cal Foote (Devils). They'll become unrestricted free agents."
Additionally, the team did not tender a qualifying offer to Michael Vukojevic who spent the 2023-24 season with the Comets.
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