- Leo Carlsson wrote Ducks fans a letter about signing the Flyers’ offer sheet
- The 21-year-old says Anaheim is where he wants to be “for the rest of my life”
- Read below for what Carlsson said about the negative DMs he got this summer
Leo Carlsson wants Ducks fans to know he never wanted out.
In a first-person letter to fans the team published Tuesday, the 21-year-old center went right at the Flyers offer sheet. Carlsson explained why he signed it in the first place.
“During the talks over the summer, we always said we wanted to stay with the Ducks. It’s just when that number pops up, it’s hard to say no in the situation I was in,” Carlsson wrote. “That’s something I hope everybody understands.”
Here’s the Ducks’ post sharing the letter Tuesday afternoon:
Philadelphia tendered the five-year, $90 million offer sheet on July 3. That $18 million cap hit made Carlsson the highest-paid player in the NHL.
Six days later, the Ducks matched it and locked him up through the 2030-31 season:
Carlsson called staying in Orange County “a no-brainer” and admitted it was hard even thinking about leaving without knowing where he’d end up.
He also wrote about how the room handled the whole saga.
“My teammates have been very supportive through all of this, and it’s been great being back with them again,” he wrote. “We see each other more as friends here than teammates, which is a great feeling.”
Some fans weren’t as understanding. Carlsson touched on the reaction he got online while the offer sheet played out.
“I’m not on Twitter anymore, but I’m still on Instagram, and it can be hard to avoid it. I would get DMs and stuff, and there was some negative stuff, but that doesn’t affect me at all,” Carlsson wrote. “I usually just laugh at it and move on.”
The sheet rippled well beyond Anaheim. Sharks GM Mike Grier said it changed how San Jose approached Macklin Celebrini’s extension.
On the ice, Carlsson has earned the raise. He posted career highs with 29 goals and 67 points in 70 games last season, then added 11 points in 12 playoff games as Anaheim won a round in its first postseason trip in eight years.
There’s more in the letter than contract talk. Carlsson opened up about living on his own in Örebro at 15, and about the stutter he’s dealt with his whole life, which has him bringing kids who stutter to Ducks games.
Anaheim opens its season Friday in Vegas, a rematch of last spring’s second-round series.
