Blackhawks’ Kurashev, Devils’ Glass, Sharks’ Kostin not expected to receive qualifying offers
A trio of notable pending restricted free agents are not expected to receive qualifying offers from their current teams and will likely test the open market next week, according to Daily Faceoff‘s Frank Seravalli.
Chicago Blackhawks center Philipp Kurashev, New Jersey Devils center Cody Glass, and San Jose Sharks winger Klim Kostin are the three RFAs slated to be cut loose after the June 28 qualifying offer deadline.
While, in previous years, upwards of a dozen pending RFAs have ended up hitting unrestricted free agency each summer after being non-tendered by their previous teams, there are only three expected to follow that route this year — something Seravalli attributed to the NHL’s skyrocketing salary cap.
The full list consists of two 26-year-old forwards and one who will turn 26 shortly after the 2025-26 season begins. NHL players are typically eligible for unrestricted free agency once they turn 27.
With the rising cap, the list of players not expected to receive a qualifying offer (and thus become UFA) is not a long one this summer:#njdevils Cody Glass#blackhawks Philipp Kurashev#sjsharks Klim Kostin
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 25, 2025Kurashev, the youngest of the group, is expected to become a UFA just one year removed from a career-best 54-point season. The Swiss-Russian dual citizen regressed to just seven goals and 14 points in 51 games with the Blackhawks in 2024-25 and spent much less time alongside previous linemate Connor Bedard.
Glass, who turned 26 on April Fools’ Day, collected six goals and 22 points in 65 games split between the Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins in 2024-25. The Winnipeg-born forward has never lived up to his billing as the No. 6 overall pick in 2017 but has reinvented himself as a strong 6’3″ defensive center.
Kostin, who also recently turned 26, is a 6’4″ Russian power winger who struggled to stay in the lineup with the Sharks last season, managing just one goal and seven points in 35 games. He had his best season with the Edmonton Oilers in 2022-23, recording 11 goals and 21 points in 57 games before tacking on three goals and five points in 12 playoff contests.
Players that don’t receive qualifying offers aren’t precluded from signing contract extensions, as was the case when Nils Lundkvist re-signed with the Dallas Stars after initially being non-tendered last summer. It’s possible that Kurashev, Glass, or Kostin could still return to their current teams, just at a different dollar or term amount than their CBA-determined qualifying offer.
The NHL’s unrestricted free agency period will open on Tuesday, July 1 at 12:00 p.m. ET.