ECHL: Norfolk Admirals Announce 2024 Qualifying Offers

The Norfolk Admirals have released a list of six players that have been extended qualifying offers ahead of the 2024-25 season. Of the list of six players, two players have elected to take different routes away from the Admirals.

Related Article: Norfolk Admirals Announce 2024 Season-Ending Roster

List of Players

Dakota Krebs – Krebs was one of the two players that have decided to go a different route from the Admirals, but it is not to play. Krebs will become the video coach of the Calgary Hitmen in the Western Hockey League, one of Canada’s Major Junior hockey leagues. Krebs spent two seasons with the Hitmen as a player from 2018 to 2020. During his time there, he played 127 regular season games, notching 11 goals and 39 assists with a +46 goal differential. Krebs would sign an Amateur Tryout Contract with the Admirals on March 22, 2024. He appeared in 10 games, five in the regular season and five in the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs. He tallied three assists and a +2 goal differential.

Keaton Jameson – Jameson is the final player to take his talents away from the Admirals organization. Jameson signed with the Glasgow Clan in the Elite Ice Hockey League in Glasgow, Scotland, for the 2024-25 season. Jameson was acquired by the Admirals that completed a future considerations trade with the Utah Grizzlies for Aaron Throw. Jameson played 63 games in the 2023-24 season with the Admirals in his third season as a pro. He notched 12 goals and 26 assists while tallying two goals and one assist in 12 games during the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

Ryan Foss – Foss has spent two season with the Admirals organization. Between the 2022-23 season and part of 2023-24 season, Foss played 93 games tallying 20 goals and 46 assists for 66 points. Foss left the Admirals January 7, 2024 to head over to Slovakia to play for HC 19 Humenne. In 14 games with Humenne, Foss tallied two goals and four assists.

Darick Louis-Jean – Louis-Jean is one player Admirals fans will love to see the signing of. Louis-Jean has been a fan favorite since coming to the team in the 2022-23 season from the Savannah Ghost Pirates. Louis-Jean has been a key physical presence to the Admirals. The Montreal, QC native has played 113 in the blue and gold and though not a goal scorer, he has put up a few contributions on the board. Louis-Jean has 11 goals and 31 assists for 42 points in the regular season while being a solid defensive defenseman with a +15 goal differential. In the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs, Louis-Jean saw 10 games notching one goal and two assists. Louis-Jean is a very tough customer. In game five of the Kelly Cup Playoffs, Louis-Jean would be hit from behind from a Trois-Rivieres Lions player, but it would not keep him out of action long as he would return for game one for the North Division Finals in the Eastern Conference against the Adirondack Thunder.

Austen Keating – Keating was a very late addition to the Admirals roster for the 2023-24 season. Keating played just one game in the regular season, but tallied two assists in that game against the Reading Royals in April. Keating showed more signs of being a great forward addition to the Admirals lineup during the postseason, as he would play 12 games and notch four goals and five assists in his first season as a professional. The 25-year-old from Guelph, ON, CAN, will be a very good offensive powerhouse just based on what he has already showcased in the little time he has been with the team.

Gehrett Sargis – Sargis was a great veteran presence last season and will look to be one again this season. Sargis has been around professional hockey for 10 seasons, playing in the Federal Hockey League, Southern Professional Hockey League, and ECHL. Sargis joined the Admirals in February to start his Admirals career. Through 21 games in the regular season, Sargis buried the puck nine times and tallied seven assists for 16 points and a +11 goal differential. He upped his game in the ECHL from the 2021-22 season when he played for the Grizzlies, tallying just 14 points (3g-11a) in 37 games played. He played eight games in the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs, where he scored three goals and collected one assist.

How Qualifying Offers Work

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.

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by August 8, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.