Four potential restricted free agents were not extended qualifying offers by the Washington Capitals — former first-round pick Sasha Pakulok, forwards Andrew Joudrey and Travis Morin and goalie Daren Machesney.
Those four all are now unrestricted free agents, and there are no surprises there. It does mark the end of the Sasha Pakulok Era, who the Caps took 14th overall in 2005 and will be remembered as one of the worst picks of that year. He has played 53 games for Hershey over the course of three seasons. Joudrey and Morin were longshots to begin with, and Machesney needed to find a new organization considering the depth in this system.
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As for the guys who were qualified — Chris Bourque, Eric Fehr, Boyd Gordon, Milan Jurcina, Shaone Morrisonn, Steve Pinizzotto, Jeff Schultz and Kyle Wilson — only Wilson probably qualifies (no pun intended) as a mild surprise. The Caps called up nearly every non-rookie forward on the Hershey roster this season, but Wilson wasn’t one of them. Pinizzotto might have been a surprise earlier in the season, but he played really well for the Bears in the playoffs and probably earned another chance.
