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Barberio looking for a ‘fresh start somewhere else,’ says agent

Mark Barberio

Mark Barberio

AP

Defenseman Mark Barberio’s name was not on the list of Tampa Bay Lightning players tendered qualifying offers on Monday. As a result, the 25-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday.

Barberio has spent parts of three seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning scoring six goals and 17 points to go along with 44 penalty minutes in 103 games.

His one-year, $874,125 deal is set to expire on July 1.

“I’m not going to say it was disappointing. It’s time to get a fresh start somewhere else,” Barberio’s agent Paul Hamel told PHT on Monday. “It could go either way so at this point, they decided not to make a qualifying offer so we just need to move on.”

Barberio grateful Tampa gave him first shot, “best years of my life,” excited for new opportunity in FA. “Change isn’t always a bad thing.”

— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) June 29, 2015

Originally a sixth-round selection (152nd overall) by the Bolts in 2008, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound blue liner appeared in 51 regular season games for Tampa during the 2014-15 season scoring one goal and six assists to go along with 16 penalty minutes and a minus-4 rating. He also appeared in one playoff game.

Related: Bolts sign Blunden to one-year, two-way deal

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