"The Trois-Rivières Lions (affiliate club of the Montreal Canadiens) have released the list of players who received a qualifying offer. This list includes Matthew Boucher, Justin Ducharme, Nicolas Guay, Nicolas Larivière, Eric Hjorth, William Lemay, Maxim Trépanier, and Ty Smilanic.
It should be noted that each team can protect the rights of up to eight players on the season-ending roster announced on June 22.
These eight players cannot be traded. The offer made to them will remain active until July 22. These players, however, can be traded after the July 22 deadline.
If no trade occurs, the team ensures they retain the rights to these skaters for the duration of the next season, no matter what happens."
- Trois-Rivières Lions