Ok, first there is a history lesson for everyone. One of the reasons Stan Bowman is the General Manager of the Chicago Blackhawks is because of qualifying offers.
Yes, qualifying offers is a pretty routine thing in the NHL except back in 2009 when they allegedly got lost in a fax machine or whatever.
Dale Tallon, the real architect of the Chicago Blackhawks, royally screwed up sending out qualifying offers back in 2009 to players like Kris Versteeg and Troy Brouwer which started the Chicago Blackhawks ride to salary cap prison because they ended up having to pay more for younger players than they should have had to.