Royals Extend Qualifying Offers to Eight

Reading, PA – The Reading Royals of the ECHL, affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL and the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL, today announced that the team has extended qualifying offers to the following eight players: Mike Banwell, Brandon Blandina, Nick Bruneteau, Matt Campanale, Louie Caporusso, Julien Cayer, Ethan Cox, and Ian O’Connor.

Video of Head Coach Larry Courville’s discussion regarding the Royals’ Qualifying Offers is available at: http://youtu.be/1kmiK14PwaU.

Players who had already signed a contract by June 30 did not need to receive a qualifying offer. Each team was entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four could be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2014-15 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded.

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until Aug. 1 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season.

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player will retain the rights to that veteran until Aug. 1. After Aug. 1, if the veteran player is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player’s rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player’s rights and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association. The member with the player’s rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer.

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by Aug. 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Season Tickets for the 2014-15 Reading Royals ECHL season are currently available. Call 610-898-7825 for more information or log onto www.royalshockey.com.

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