Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Connor Dewar and Philip Tomasino did not receive qualifying offers as pending restricted free agents by the NHL’s deadline to extend such offers at 5 p.m. Monday. But that does not necessarily mean they will be leaving the club.

Earlier in the day, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said talks with both players over contract extensions were ongoing. And according to a team source, those negotiations continued once Monday’s deadline had expired.

Restricted free agents who do not receive qualifying offers can become unrestricted free agents when the NHL’s signing period opens Tuesday.

Tomasino (Nov. 25) and Dewar (March 7) were acquired via trades during the 2024-25 season.

In 50 games with the Penguins, Tomasino scored 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) while averaging 13 minutes, 27 seconds of ice time. As for Dewar, he skated in 17 games with the club and posted seven points (four goals, three assists) while clocking an average of 14:27.

Other pending restricted free agents who were not qualified were forwards Raivis Ansons and Emil Bemstrom as well as defenseman P.O Joseph and goaltender Taylor Gauthier.

Joseph, who turns 26 on Tuesday, is the most prominent member of that group. A member of the Penguins organization for parts of the past six seasons, Joseph struggled through an injury-filled 2024-25 campaign.

Rejoining the Penguins through a trade with the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 18, Joseph skated in 24 games for the Penguins and recorded a single assist while averaging 17:20 of ice time. An undisclosed ailment sidelined him for the final 20 games of the season.

The 23-year-old Ansons, a fifth-round draft pick (No. 149 overall) of the Penguins in 2020, has spent the past three seasons with the organization, all with the team’s minor-league affiliates. Injuries limited him to nine games and one goal with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League this past season.

He is signed to a one-year AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the 2025-26 campaign.

Bemstrom, 26, spent the past two seasons with the Penguins and was an AHL All-Star in 2024-25. In 48 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he scored 48 points, including a team-best 23 goals.

In 14 NHL games, he had one assist while averaging 8:20 of ice time.

Gauthier, 24, was a member of the organization for the past three seasons, all either with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton or Wheeling of the ECHL.

After winning the ECHL’s top goaltender award in 2023-24, Gauthier was limited by injuries in 2024-25, appearing in 30 games and posting an 18-10-2 record, a 2.06 goals-against average, .928 save percentage and two shutouts.

The lone pending restricted free agent the Penguins extended a qualifying offer to was forward Vasily Ponomarev, who signed a three-year contract with Avangard Omsk of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League earlier in June.

Such a maneuver was procedural as it allows the Penguins to retain Ponomarev’s NHL rights.

The 23-year-old Ponomarev appeared in 55 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season and scored 41 points (15 goals, 25 assists). With the NHL club, he skated in seven games and clocked 10:02 of ice time per contest.

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