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The Florida Everblades made qualifying offers to six players on Tuesday, reserving their rights within the ECHL until Aug. 1.

Forwards Preston Callander, Derek Damon, Brad Zancanaro and Brad Herauf, as well as defensemen Steve Czech and Brett Peterson were all made qualifying offers. Forward Jarret Lukin is the only player from '07-08 who has already re-signed with the Blades, whose only other announced signee is defenseman Kyle Peto.

New head coach Malcolm Cameron, who replaced seven-year veteran Gerry Fleming this offseason, said he doesn't expect to sign many of the listed players to new contracts. Last season, the Blades re-signed eight players from the '07-08 team.

"That's definitely not going to happen this season," Cameron said on Tuesday. "It's gotta be a fit. Just because they played here in the past doesn't mean they're gonna be guaranteed a spot ... it's different when you win a championship, but we didn't win a championship last year."

"It's like putting a puzzle together ... if you can get a new guy to do something a little better or a little cheaper, you've gotta go that route."

Cameron said he couldn't put a specific number on how many players have already signed with the Blades for next season.

"I will say this," he added. "We've already made quite a few deals with some players I'm very excited about."

A couple players still expected to sign from last season are Hartlieb, the '07-08 captain, and Herauf, last year's team leader in penalty minutes. Cameron said he hopes a deal can be reached with Hartlieb within the next few weeks, and Hartlieb said on Monday that he's looking forward to signing a deal. The 29-year-old has spent most of the summer recuperating from shoulder surgery.

The Blades often don't issue qualifying offers to veterans such as Hartlieb, because they already reside in Southwest Florida and aren't expected to sign with a different ECHL team.

Like Hartlieb, Herauf also had shoulder surgery, but Cameron hinted that a deal has already been made with the 25-year-old forward.

"I don't want to tip my hand too much," Cameron said. "But (Herauf) wants to come back here, and we'd like to have him back."

Cameron has also hinted at potential deals with '07-08 Texas forwards John McNabb, a second-team all-ECHL selection, and Kevin Baker, who scored 56 points in 44 games last season.

McNabb has said the only place he'll play in the ECHL next season is Florida, and Cameron said he and Baker had a contract discussion while golfing last month.

Baker and McNabb were not made qualifying offers by the Ontario (Calif.) Reign, the team that earned rights to last year's Texas players. The Wildcatters relocated to Ontario following last year's first-place South Division finish.

As for the remaining players on the Blades' qualifying list, Cameron said he was pursuing all of them "to a varying degree."

The team would like to get Callander, a 57 point-scorer in 47 games, and Damon, a second-team all-ECHL selection, back for the '08-09 season. But both players are hoping to get AHL deals. If not, it's likely both could sign with European teams. Callander may be more likely to return to Florida than Damon, because Callander has already played two seasons in Germany, and his wife, Rachel, just had a baby last week.

"I'd say at this point it's highly unlikely that I'd return to Florida next year," Damon said on Tuesday. "Obviously you never say never, but I'm just hoping an (AHL) team has a good opportunity for me. If not, then I want to make some money, and Europe is the best option for that."

Damon said he has already been made offers by teams in some of Europe's best leagues, but he's going to wait and see what happens with the AHL before making any final decisions.

Cameron said he has talked with Callander but that the Blades are going to be "very patient" with Callander as he weighs his options.

Zancanaro and Peterson are also still deciding.

"At this point it's either back to Florida or going overseas," Zancanaro said, adding that he has had some offers to play in Europe, but he's still waiting for a good one. "I'm sure there's gonna be a point in time where (the Blades) have to move on (from me) ... I understand the situation where they can't just wait around."

Peterson said he was just "50/50" on playing hockey again after last season.

"Now it's maybe 75 percent that I will," he said on Tuesday. "I've had a lot of good offers to go to Europe, and I've had some good conversations with (Cameron). I told him I just don't really know ... what I wanna do yet."

Czech, a friend of Peto's who helped convince the former Kelly Cup-winner to sign with Florida, was not able to be reached for comment on Tuesday. The 25-year-old was an anchor of the Blades' penalty kill last season but missed 15 games due to injury.