Here is the reply back from CapFriendly about Yohann Auvitu:
"In regards your question, no he would not qualify for Group III free agency.
The reason being is that players who played their entire club hockey career in Europe, & who then sign their first contract between ages 25-17 on a 1 year deal, are still considered as Entry Level players & are therefore RFA at the end of that first deal.
See CBA page 23 (section 9.1 (c))".
Right, but he didn't sign between the ages of 17-25... he signed at the age of 26 (May 27, 2016), in his 27th year (being born July 27, 1989).
CBA 9.1 (c) actually states:
... a Player who at the time he was
drafted was playing for a team outside North America or who meets the qualifications set forth in
Article 8.4(a)(v) (a "European Player") who signs his first SPC at ages 25-27 shall be subject to
the Entry Level System for one (1) year.
That does specify what happens for players signing aged 25-27, but it specifies for players who were drafted. Auvitu was never drafted.
EDIT: They must be applying the rule such that since Auvitu was in Europe during his first draft eligible year (France, 2006-07, for the 2007 Draft), despite not being drafted, he would be treated as a "drafted" European Player.
OR
As he too was in Europe (Finland, 2010-11) when he became an unrestricted free agent as per 8.4 (a) (v) (which says:
"a Player age 22 or older who has not been selected in a previous Entry Draft and shall be eligible to enter the League as an Unrestricted Free Agent pursuant to Article 10.1(d)"), maybe that similarly makes him a "drafted" European Player for the sake of this situation...
I do think those are too vague though if that's the case.
I agree with your original assessment smsgtkvv that he should be UFA.