WICHITA, Kan. (July 8) – The Wichita Thunder, ECHL affiliate of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, AHL's San Jose Barracuda and powered by Toyota, announced today that five players have been extended qualifying offers ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Defense (1): Tanner Palocsik
Forwards (2): Gavin Best, Declan Smith
Goalies (2): Connor Hasley, Roddy Ross
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. Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded.
The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until 11:59 p.m. ET on 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 Player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season. Any Player who has played in more than 190 professional regular-season games is ineligible to receive a Qualifying Offer.
All regular-season games played in any of the following leagues shall count towards a Player’s Rookie/Veteran and Qualifying Offer status.
North America – National Hockey League, American Hockey League, ECHL, Central Hockey League (Defunct, but games played count toward veteran status)
Europe – Czech Extraliga (Czech Republic), Liiga (Finland), DEL (Germany), KHL (Russia), Slovak Extraliga (Slovakia), SHL (Sweden), National League (Switzerland)
The schedule for the 2026-27 season is out, and we are counting down the days until Opening Night! Join us on Saturday, October 17 as we host the Tahoe Knight Monsters and help us celebrate our 35th Anniversary Season. Contact us today for more information by clicking HERE.
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2026-27 season. Lock in your seat for all of our 36 home games and catch all the action as we head into our 35th anniversary season. Click HERE to learn more and request a call.
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