- Ducks matched Philadelphia’s five-year, $90 million offer sheet to keep Leo Carlsson
- The $18 million cap hit makes the 21-year-old the richest player in NHL history
- Read below for Pat Verbeek’s reaction and how the Flyers built the deal
Leo Carlsson isn’t going anywhere.
The Ducks matched the five-year, $90 million offer sheet the Flyers handed Carlsson on July 3, locking up the 21-year-old center through the 2030-31 season. The $18 million average annual value is now the richest contract in NHL history.
Anaheim had until Friday to make a call. Walking away would have handed them four first-round picks from Philadelphia as compensation. General manager Pat Verbeek never came close to letting that happen.
Verbeek said keeping Carlsson was the plan from the start.
“We have viewed Leo as a franchise player since the moment we met him prior to the 2023 draft,” Verbeek said. “He’s a character person on and off the ice. Leo is viewed as a top player in this league, and it was always our intention to match any offer sheet.”
The Flyers built the deal to make matching hurt. Elliotte Friedman reported that roughly $85 million of the $90 million came in signing bonuses, front-loading the money to squeeze Anaheim’s cash flow.
It didn’t matter. Owners Henry and Susan Samueli said the club left itself enough cap room to bring him back no matter what number Philadelphia wrote down.
“Matching the offer sheet was an easy decision, as Pat has intelligently left enough cap space to give us the ability to retain Leo,” the Samuelis said. “We have extremely high expectations for Leo.”
Carlsson earned the raise. He set career highs last season with 29 goals, 38 assists and 67 points in 70 games, then added 11 points in 12 playoff games as Anaheim made real noise.
The No. 2 pick from the 2023 draft has 141 points in 201 regular-season games across three years. He just wrapped his entry-level deal, and the Ducks handed him a franchise-record raise the second it expired.
Carlsson is the second offer sheet matched this offseason, after Utah kept Barrett Hayton on Wednesday. His deal drew plenty of heat around the league, with one rival exec calling the whole thing a fireable offense. Anaheim paid it anyway.
