7:35 PM: Hajek has signed a one-year deal worth $800,000. (CapFriendly)
2:09 PM: The Rangers have sent qualifying offers to RFAs Kaapo Kakko, Libor Hajek, Tim Gettinger and Austin Rueschhoff. (Walker)
RFAs who did not receive a qualifying offer include forwards Jacob Elmer, Justin Richards, Ty Ronning and goalie Tyler Wall.
Ronning is reportedly interested in joining Vancouver. He played his junior hockey in Vancouver and his father Cliff played for the Canucks.
Adam Rotter: A lot of the hype around qualifying offers went away once the Rangers traded Alex Georgiev. None of the rest are all that surprising. Kakko is obvious, Gettinger and Rueschhoff are big minor leaguers and even though he barely played, the Rangers won’t give Libor Hajek away for nothing. They wouldn’t risk losing him on waivers and they won’t let him become a free agent. Maybe he gets package in a deal somewhere or maybe he comes to training camp and is the new third-pair left defenseman. It’s not exactly fair to him as I’m sure he would prefer a fresh start and the chance to play somewhere else, but the Rangers obviously still see value in him.