ECHL: Cincinnati Cyclones Announce 2024 Qualifying Offers

List of Players:

Noah Kane, Elijah Gonsalves, Luke Santerno, Patrick Polino, Zachary Tsekos, Robert Carpenter, Kieran Craig and Zane Franklin.

ECHL Rules:

Players who had already signed a contract by July 7 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 2024-25 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded.

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until July 22 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, or to a goaltender who has played more than 180 regular-season games, will retain the rights to that player until July 22. After July 22, if the veteran player or goaltender is not signed to a contract by the team, the player 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.

Bobo & Zach:

The Cincinnati Cyclones acquired forwards Bobo Carpenter and Zach Tsekos from the Florida Everblades to complete the future considerations trade that sent Zack Andrusiak to Florida at the trade deadline. Carpenter, who recently led the Everblades to a third consecutive Kelly Cup, served as an assistant captain this past season. The 27-year-old accumulated 46 points during the regular season and outperformed all Florida skaters with 23 points and 12 goals during the team’s extended playoff run. Prior to this, he played four years in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals and Bridgeport Sound Tigers, following a four-year stint with Boston University.

Zach Tsekos, a left-handed forward, moves to the Cyclones after finishing his third professional season. In the most recent season, he accumulated 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) in 27 games played with the eventual Kelly Cup champions. The native of Montréal, Quebec, has competed in 60 ECHL games between the Everblades and the Grizzlies, in addition to participating in six AHL games with the Colorado Eagles. During his college career, he played for Clarkson University and Sacred Heart, ultimately amassing a total of 117 points over five years.

Kane Gone Overseas:

Noah Kane, the left-handed centerman for the Cincinnati Cyclones, is heading overseas to play for JoKP in the Mestis League, Finland. Last season, he played in 16 games and scored 2 goals with 4 assists, totaling 6 points. Hopefully, he will be able to come back soon. As a young centerman, he shows a lot of promise, and as a Cyclones fan, I hope to see him return to the ECHL sometime soon. On June 10th, the Cincinnati Cyclones staff placed Noah Kane on the Protected List, which means that they have his ECHL rights. If he chooses to return to the USA, he will be with the Cyclones.