Ducks Make Offers to Soon-to-Be Free Agents

The Ducks tendered qualifying offers Monday to five of their key players, all of whom become restricted free agents when their contracts expire Friday, including second-leading scorer Andy McDonald and goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

Rounding out the group are second-year right wing Joffrey Lupul, veteran defenseman Vitaly Vishnevski and rookie left wing Chris Kunitz.

All five can either accept the offers before July 20 or file for salary arbitration.

Under the collective bargaining agreement reached last summer between the NHL and the players’ union, any player making less than $660,000 must be offered 10% more than their 2005-06 salary. Anyone making between $660,000 and $1 million must be offered 5% more while those above $1 million can be offered the same salary.

After making $627,000 last season, McDonald should be rewarded much more than the required 10% raise to $689,700. Although he struggled in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the 28-year-old had a career year in 2005-06 with 34 goals and 51 assists as the team’s No. 1 center.

Bryzgalov, who nearly set a league record with a shutout streak of 249 minutes, 42 seconds in the playoffs, made $456,000 last season. The 26-year-old could get lucrative offers from teams in his native Russia, even as he negotiates with the Ducks.

Lupul, 22, had 28 goals to rank third, behind McDonald and leading scorer Teemu Selanne.

In the playoffs, Lupul was a force and led the Ducks with nine goals, including a club-record four in a 4-3 overtime victory over Colorado in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

Lupul’s father, Craig, confirmed that his son received his qualifying offer, which will bump his salary to at least $945,630. But he also said they figure to seek more and would like to discuss a multiyear deal with Ducks General Manager Brian Burke.

Peter Semonick, Lupul’s agent who is based in Edmonton, Canada, was out of town and unavailable for comment.

“We’re going to talk some numbers here,” said Craig Lupul, an Edmonton lawyer. “We haven’t talked. We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.”

Vishnevski, 26, made $1.14 million in his fifth full season with the team.

Kunitz, 26, made close to $460,000 as he broke Paul Kariya’s team rookie records with 19 goals and 41 points.

Monday was the last day NHL teams had to either tender qualifying offers to restricted free agents or allow them to enter the marketplace.

The Ducks also tendered several minor leaguers, including centers Zenon Konopka and Pierre Parenteau, along with defensemen Shane O’Brien and Maxim Kondratiev, while letting go enforcer Kip Brennan and center Igor Pohanka.