The NHL had a very interesting day on Monday. While there weren’t the insane trades that were coming into the NHL Central Registry prior to the NHL Draft, the qualifying offer process brought a few surprises and added interesting young names to the free agency. The New Jersey Devils made some interesting decisions, but the most surprising one is letting Paul Cotter go to free agency.
They also failed to tender a qualifying offer to Calen Addison, Tyler Brennan, and Dylan Wendt. All three of those players will become free agents, while they held onto players like Arseny Gritsyuk, Nico Daws, and the newly acquired Amadeus Lombardi. It’s telling what is coming for the Devils from free agency; other teams made their own surprising move.
The most surprising move seemed to be when the Minnesota Wild allowed Bobby Brink to walk to free agency. The former Philadelphia Flyers top prospect was traded to the Wild straight up for David Jiricek, who was drafted high in what is quickly becoming a terrible 2022 NHL Draft.
So, the Wild paid a significant price for Jiricek, dumped him to Philadelphia for Brink straight up, and now, Brink is a free agent.
The consensus belief is that Brink will sign an extension, but that’s far from a guarantee. Everyone assumed he was getting a qualifying offer, and that didn’t happen.
This is a shocking move since Brink had his best season as a pro in 2025-26 analytically, but his counting stats didn’t follow. He added 30 points in 68 games one year after he put up 41 points.
Brink is an undersized forward with grit. He plays well on both sides of the ice, and his offense has been getting better. At just 24 years old (25 on July 8th), Brink still has more growth to show to the NHL.
No qualifying offer for Bobby Brink. I'm assuming the Wild have an extension up their sleeve; if not, one of the better July 1st targets. pic.twitter.com/ywy5EiHl9I
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) June 30, 2026
Brink is going to be looking for a deal that pays him more than the $3.4 million he was expecting to make on his qualifying offer. The Devils might not be looking to go that rich for a guy who’s never scored more than 15 goals in his career, but there is more than meets the eye for Brink. Minnesota was expected to give him a bigger role in this offense with veterans leaving for free agency.
Then, out of nowhere, he’s available to the other 31 franchises if the Wild can’t get him signed before July 1st. It’s crazy how quickly things change in the NHL.
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