The South Carolina Stingrays announced their season-ending roster for 2023-24 on Monday, protecting the rights of 17 players as the signing period begins. The season-ending roster is the second in the three-step process of retaining players' rights, the first being the initial protected list and the final being qualifying offers.
Season-ending rosters may include up to 20 players. Season-ending rosters cannot include players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2023-24. Therefore, players who were on NHL or AHL contracts in 2023-24 are not eligible for the list.
Here is the Stingrays' 2023-24 season-ending roster:
FORWARDS (12): Ian Mackey, Jack Adams, Ryan Leibold, Austin Magera, Ben Hawerchuk, Jackson Leppard, Ivan Lodnia, Kyler Kupka, Jonny Evans, Josh Wilkins, Ethan Strang, Jarid Lukosevicius
DEFENSEMEN (5): Spencer Meier, Connor Moore, Bryce Montgomery, Josh Thrower, Peter Diliberatore
Each team is entitled to reserve rights to a maximum of eight players from their season-ending roster by extending a qualifying offer no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on July 7. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular-season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2024-25 Season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to July 7.
The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until 11:59 p.m. ET on July 22, at which time it becomes null and void. 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 11:59 p.m. ET on July 22. After July 22, if the veteran player or goaltender is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran or goaltender 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 11:59 p.m. ET on August 8, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.
The Stingrays 2024-25 season begins on Saturday, October 19, with the Home Opener against the Savannah Ghost Pirates at 6:05 p.m. The full schedule can be viewed here.
