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Why Ducks must match Flyers’ Leo Carlsson $90 million offer sheet
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- Why Ducks must match Flyers’ Leo Carlsson $90 million offer sheet
Why Ducks must match Flyers' Leo Carlsson $90 million offer sheet appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The Anaheim Ducks are faced with an incredibly difficult decision. Ducks center Leo Carlsson signed an offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers , which Anaheim can now match. Philly signed the 21-year-old to a five-year deal worth $18 million per year, which would be the highest AAV in the league to start next season. The Ducks cannot let Carlsson walk after finally making the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
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The Ducks went through a long and dark rebuild, missing the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons. Joel Quenneville came to town and immediately brought them to the playoffs in 2025-26, beating the Edmonton Oilers in the first round. Carlsson's 67 regular-season points and 11 postseason points were a big part of that rise.
The Flyers had the cap space and the draft picks to take a big swing with a Carlsson offer sheet. Now, the Ducks have to answer back by either letting him go or matching the deal. They should match it without thinking twice and move into 2026-27 with a legitimate chance of winning the Pacific Division.
The argument for letting Carlsson walk is simple: teams very rarely get a chance to load up with four first-round picks. In any offseason of the past decade, Anaheim would have loved to land four firsts. But after making the playoffs last year, they have to keep moving forward. They lost some pieces this offseason, but some changes on defense should have them in contention.
The Ducks have other business to do this offseason, and Carlsson's outsized salary will make that much harder.
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How Cutter Gauthier plays into Leo Carlsson -Flyers drama
Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images
In January of 2024, the Ducks and Flyers made a seismic trade. Cutter Gauthier asked for a trade away from Philadelphia as a prospect, so they sent him to Anaheim for defenseman Jamie Drysdale . Gauthier scored 40 goals for the Ducks last year, and he is still a villain among Flyers fans.
Now, both Gauthier and Carlsson are restricted free agents in the same season. Gauthier is not eligible to sign an offer sheet, so he will be back with the Ducks, as long as he is not traded. Flyers GM Daniel Briere took two years to think about it, but has fired his revenge shot at Anaheim boss Pat Verbeek.
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Now, the Ducks have to fit Carlsson's $18 million, whatever Gauthier asks for, and more under the salary cap. The alternative is losing their top-line center and the most important piece of their future. Carlsson and Gauthier showed last year that they can be an elite combination, and Anaheim should pay whatever it takes to keep them together.
If the Flyers get Carlsson, they would have three former Ducks draft picks on their roster. Carlsson, Drysdale, and Trevor Zegras would all be key parts of a Flyers team looking to repeat a solid playoff performance. In a weak Metropolitan Division, that would be as strong a trio as there is outside of the Carolina Hurricanes .
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Flyers' offer sheet is front-loaded, which would cost the Ducks a lot in real cash to keep Carlsson. "Key details from what I understand on Leo Carlsson offer-sheet: Front-loaded and bonus structure, as we'd all expect. In the next 12 months, he will earn approximately $39M."
This could become an ownership question for the Ducks, as the salary cap number does not match the average annual value. There are layers to this decision on both sides, but it's one for hockey fans to chew on for the next seven days.
Related: Ducks rumors: Anaheim's offer to Leo Carlsson 'hours' before Flyers offer sheet
Related: Ducks rumors: What salary was Anaheim looking to pay Leo Carlsson before offer sheet?
