The clock has started ticking on the Anaheim Ducks and if they’ll match the offer sheet Leo Carlsson signed with the Philadelphia Flyers
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet: Leo Carlsson will become the highest-paid NHL player after signing a five-year, $18 million per year offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets must have taken notice for Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli.
If you have a top play, teams can’t wait around, they should “sign them for as long as you can. The price never goes down.”
Several sources said that the Anaheim Ducks and Carlsson’s camp talked a few hours before he signed the offer sheet, and the Ducks came in between $12 and $13 million. Some teams said they heard Carlsson’s ask was around $15 million.
Where are things at with Morgan Rielly and the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Philadelphia Flyers have been thinking about offer sheeting someone for months.
Ducks GM Pat Verbeek has said leading up to this that they would match any offer sheet, but he probably wasn’t thinking it would be for $18 million. heard that one team was thinking about a seven-year, $17.5 million per offer sheet. Believe someone would consider the max of $20.8 million.
Leo Carlsson’s new contract is one of the WILDEST you’ll ever see in sports 🤯
Over the next 12 months, he’s set to receive nearly $40 MILLION in signing bonuses alone 🤑 pic.twitter.com/AJKKwlD89k
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) July 4, 2026
Jason Robertson’s Contract Situation is Really Tricky
Cam Robinson: “One extra layer to the offer sheet situation that has been coming up around the league:
The matching team can’t trade the player for 12 months. But if the offering team lands the player, they can move him.
There’s growing belief that clubs may explore offer sheets as a backdoor trade path: sign here, we’ll get you where you want to go, and then get more than the offer-sheet compensation we gave up.
- Cam Robinson: “Further to this… I’m told multiple RFA’s have been involved in discussions around this type of offer-sheet structure. This isn’t just a theoretical loophole. It appears some teams are actively exploring it.
The Philadelphia Flyers have just over $29.5 million in projected cap space with a 21-man roster, with three RFAs in Trevor Zegras, Nikita Gerbenkin, and Jamie Drysdale.
If the Ducks match, they’ll still have just over $17 million in projected cap space with 20 players under contract. They have three RFAs to sign in Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov and Tyson Hinds.
🚨Night Cap Recap 🚨
Flyers Hit Leo Carlsson with an Offer Sheet #flytogether #letsgoflyers @SWrights975 pic.twitter.com/tMkDbGORM3
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) July 3, 2026
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