- Ryan Leonard says Leo Carlsson is getting a tap on the shins as thanks for resetting the young-star market
- The Capitals winger signed an eight-year, $84 million extension worth $10.5 million per season
- Read below for what GM Chris Patrick expects next from the restricted free agent market
Ryan Leonard knows exactly who to thank for his $84 million.
Leonard was asked on the first day of Capitals training camp whether he owed Leo Carlsson a thank-you card, since Carlsson dragged the entire young-star market upward months before Washington locked its winger up.
“I’ll definitely be giving him a tap on the shins this year,” Leonard said, smiling.
Watch the full media availabilities from Washington’s first on-ice session:
Carlsson signed a five-year, $90 million offer sheet with the Flyers over the summer. Anaheim matched it and handed the 21-year-old center an $18 million cap hit, a record at the time.
Others cashed in behind him. Macklin Celebrini ($18.8 million), Connor Bedard ($15 million) and Cutter Gauthier ($13.5 million) all landed eight-figure extensions this summer as pending restricted free agents.
The 21-year-old sounded a little stunned by the whole summer.
“It’s nuts. It’s crazy what’s going on now.”
He added that it is nice to watch the NHL creep closer to what other leagues pay their stars.
Washington got Leonard’s deal done Tuesday at $10.5 million per season. It begins in 2027-28 and runs through 2034-35.
Patrick talked about why he moved before an offer sheet could reach his desk at all.
“I wasn’t worried about losing them. I was worried about having to match a deal with a term we didn’t like or with movement clauses we didn’t like or with massively front-loaded bonus structure that we didn’t like. So we were able to do a deal on our terms with the player and kind of avoid a lot of that drama.”
More are coming, Patrick said, pointing to Adam Fantilli and the rest of Leonard’s 2023 draft class due for deals after this season. Head coach Spencer Carbery covered the same wave of long-term contracts at his own Day 1 presser:
Leonard earned the raise. He put up 45 points (20 goals, 25 assists) in 75 games as a rookie, becoming the eighth rookie in franchise history to score 20 and the first since Alex Ovechkin in 2005-06.
He opens camp skating alongside Ovechkin and Dylan Strome.
That shin tap will have to wait, though. The Capitals do not visit Honda Center until January 10.
