COLE STALLARD SIGNS QUALIFYING OFFER

SAVANNAH, GA —  The Ghost Pirates announced Monday that forward Cole Stallard has signed a qualifying offer with the club for the 2023-24 season.

Stallard, 28, appeared in 44 games last season, split between Savannah and the Iowa Heartlanders, scoring 11 goals and six assists.

"Although I only had a very small taste of Savannah towards the end of the year, I instantly caught on to the atmosphere and support that the team gets from the community," Stallard said. "It’s the best I have seen in this league which makes it an easy decision to come back." 

The Woodstock, GA native was acquired from Iowa on February 1. Stallard played collegiately at SUNY-Plattsburgh from 2015-19 and spent part of three seasons in the SPHL.

“We’re looking for Cole to play a hard and heavy game; that’s where he’s at his best,” Ghost Pirates head coach Rick Bennett said. “He was able to pick up some goals for us around the net, and we're looking forward to a full season with him in the fold."

Tristan Thompson, Will Riedell, Max Kaufman, Brent Pedersen, Jett Jones and Spencer Naas have also received valid qualifying offers.

QUALIFYING OFFER RULES:

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 2023-24 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.

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