Forward Maxime Comtois and defender Simon Benoît will not extend their stay under the hot California sun next season. The Anaheim Ducks announced Friday that they will not be making any qualifying offers to these two skaters.

This means they will become restricted free agents on July 1st.

Comtois had nine goals and ten assists for 19 points in 64 games last season while trailing -20. After amassing 33 points in 55 competitions in 2020–21, he couldn’t keep up that pace.

The 2017 Ducks second-round pick just signed a two-year, $4.075 million deal.

Simon Benoit spent the entire 2022–2023 season in the Ducks jersey, amassing 10 points including three goals.

The Lavaler native was never drafted and signed as a free agent with the California team in March 2019.

Unsurprisingly, Anaheim made qualifying offers to forwards Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras and defenseman Jamie Drysdale.

Quebec’s Benoît-Olivier Groulx and goalkeeper Lukas Dostal also received a qualifying offer from the organization.

Same fate for Sprong and Poehling

Comtois is far from the only one to have suffered this rejection from his team, while several other NHL teams made the same type of announcement earlier in the evening.

For example, the Seattle Kraken didn’t make an offer to forwards Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong, despite the latter scoring 21 goals last season. Acquired as part of the Pittsburgh assignment of Jeff Petry, former Canadiens first choice Ryan Poehling did not receive an offer of the Penguins and will also be a free agent tomorrow. Another former CH, Victor Mete, suffered the same fate with the Maple Leafs.

Former overall runner-up Nolan Patrick has not played since 2022 due to injury didn’t get a qualifying offer from the Golden Knights. The Sabers, for their part, fired former first-round pick Tyson Jost and former Canadiens defenseman Kale Clague, among others. The Sharks haven’t made an offer for goalie MacKenzie Blackwood. but would still intend to reach an agreement with him.

See more announcements below: