GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The NHL on Monday released the names of players who became free agents as of today, a list that contains a plethora of former Griffins.

FREE AGENTS SUBJECT TO COMPENSATION AND RIGHT TO MATCH -- GROUP 2

The players listed below have been tendered a qualifying offer by their respective Clubs and are subject to draft-choice compensation and right to match.

ATLANTA

Shane Hnidy

CAROLINA

Kevyn Adams

DETROIT

Darryl Bootland, Matt Ellis, Tomas Kopecky, Niklas Kronvall, Joey MacDonald, Jason Williams

FLORIDA

Joel Kwiatkowski

MINNESOTA

Todd White

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Rob Collins

NEW YORK RANGERS

Alexandre Giroux, Karel Rachunek

OTTAWA

Chris Kelly, Chris Neil, Jason Spezza

TAMPA BAY

Dimitri Afanasenkov


UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS - GROUP 3

The following players have qualified for Group 3 Free Agency (age 31 or older with at least four Accrued Seasons) and are Unrestricted Free Agents.

DALLAS

Patrick Traverse

DETROIT

Curtis Joseph, Stacy Roest


POTENTIAL GROUP 5 FREE AGENTS

The following players: (i) have completed ten pro seasons or more (NHL or Minors, excluding Junior hockey), and (ii) in the 2004-05 season earned less than the NHL average salary of $1,390,896 and (iii) received a timely qualifying offer.

These players have the right to elect once in their careers to become Unrestricted Free Agents. If such players do not elect to become Unrestricted Free Agents, since their prior Clubs have tendered them qualifying offers, such players shall remain subject to draft choice compensation and right to match as applies to Group 2 Free Agents. The players listed below have until August 5, 2005 to elect Group 5 status.

NO GRIFFINS ALUMNI


UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS -- GROUP 6

The following players qualify for unrestricted free agency, having met the requirements for Group 6 free agency. These players, whose contracts have expired, are age 25 or older, have completed three or more professional seasons, and (i) in the case of a player other than a goaltender, have played less than 80 NHL games (regular-season and playoff), or (ii) in the case of a goaltender, have played less than 28 NHL games (regular-season and playoff).

COLORADO

Chris Bala, Jeff Ulmer.

COLUMBUS

Jeff Panzer

DETROIT

Pete Vandermeer.

EDMONTON

Tyler Moss

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Dieter Kochan

PHILADELPHIA

Neil Little


UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

The following players were not tendered a qualifying offer and are therefore Unrestricted Free Agents not subject to a right to match or draft choice compensation.

ANAHEIM

Sheldon Brookbank

CAROLINA

Jim Henkel

DETROIT

Paul Ballantyne, Danny Groulx, Nathan Robinson

NASHVILLE

Mark Eaton

OTTAWA

Josh Langfeld, Martin Prusek

WASHINGTON

Jason Doig

For the complete list of NHL free agents, click here.