The Penguins today made qualifying offers to six of their 17 restricted free agents, including forwards Colby Armstrong and Ryan Malone, defenseman Brooks Orpik and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury -- four players who are considered integral to the team's building process.

In something of a surprise, forwards Andy Hilbert, who played on the top line with Sidney Crosby, and Konstantin Koltsov, a former first-round draft pick, were among the 11 players who were not given qualifying offers.

They and the others not offered -- forwards Ben Eaves, Krystofer Kolanos, Cam Paddock, Tomas Surovy and Petr Taticek, defensemen Drew Fata, Alex Rouleau and Andy Schneider, and goaltender Andy Chiodo -- will become unrestricted free agents on Saturday.

The other players given qualifying offers are forwards Niklas Nordgren and Jani Rita.

By tendering qualifying offers, the Penguins retain those players' rights and have the right to match offers from other teams.