07/09/26 11:44:00
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07/09 11:42 CDT Anaheim Ducks keep Leo Carlsson, matching Flyers' $90 million
offer sheet for young center
Anaheim Ducks keep Leo Carlsson, matching Flyers' $90 million offer sheet for
young center
By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) --- The Anaheim Ducks have matched the Philadelphia
Flyers' offer sheet for center Leo Carlsson, keeping their rising young star at
an extraordinary cost.
The Ducks announced their decision Thursday on the 21-year-old Carlsson, who is
now the NHL's highest-paid player under the five-year, $90 million deal
extended by the Flyers one week ago.
Carlsson signed the Flyers' offer sheet as a restricted free agent after a year
of fruitless negotiations with Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek, whose
typical hardline approach in contract talks with his restricted free agents
backfired tremendously this time.
Carlsson's new contract is worth much more than the league expected he would
get as a restricted free agent, and the $18 million average annual value is
significantly more than he had already indicated he would accept. The deal
surpasses the salary of Minnesota's Kirill Kaprizov, who would have been the
NHL's highest-paid player at $17 million.
The Flyers failed to land their long-sought No. 1 center in unusual fashion by
swiping Carlsson, but the attempt showed general manager Danny Briere's
determination to improve his roster at all costs. The Ducks would have received
four first-round draft picks from Philadelphia if they hadn't matched the offer
sheet.
Future negotiations will reveal whether Briere significantly skewed the NHL's
valuations of young talent by offering more than nearly all observers thought
Carlsson could get. The structure of Philadelphia's offer sheet also
front-loaded Carlsson's contract with costly signing bonuses in another
departure from many NHL contracts.
Although the Ducks retained their most important young player, Verbeek's
inability to get a deal done before he was forced into it by Philadelphia will
compromise Anaheim's roster-building efforts this season and for years to come.
The embattled general manager has had a rough summer immediately after the
Ducks ended their seven-season playoff drought with a second-round run that had
stamped them as a future contender in the Western Conference.
After keeping the Ducks' payroll well under the salary cap during his tenure,
Verbeek will be spending owner Henry Samueli's money at the limit of the cap
next season after making anachronistic decisions and signaling vulnerability to
the league while he managed his crop of young talent.
The league's salary cap is currently at $104 million and is expected to rise in
the coming years.
Verbeek still hasn't signed 41-goal scorer Cutter Gauthier, a restricted free
agent who is not eligible to receive an offer sheet. He signed defenseman Pavel
Mintyukov to a five-year, $36 million deal last week, again going well over the
expected market rate for a restricted free agent who isn't on Carlsson's level
of talent, but was widely rumored to be on the verge of signing an offer sheet.
Verbeek also parted ways with four key defensemen from last season's team ---
Jacob Trouba, captain Radko Gudas, Olen Zellweger and late-season rental John
Carlson --- and hasn't replaced them with any significant signings beyond
journeyman Nick Jensen. Anaheim also traded Mason McTavish, a key component of
its team for several seasons, to St. Louis for draft picks after the center
regressed last season.
With this pricey deal for Carlsson, the Ducks' history of antagonistic
negotiations with their free agents has become the defining feature of
Verbeek's front office.
Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and McTavish all held out of training camp in
recent years when they couldn't get a deal done with Verbeek, who eventually
signed all three --- and later traded them all away. Verbeek did two of those
deals with the Flyers, gaining praise for sending Drysdale in a package for
Gauthier, but getting criticism from Ducks fans for giving up on the
high-scoring Zegras last summer.
Carlsson was the No. 2 choice in the 2023 draft behind Connor Bedard, and he
has emerged as one of the NHL's top young playmakers.
Although he didn't produce points at a rate commensurate with his new salary
during his first three seasons, almost everyone believes Carlsson can become
one of the best centers in hockey, so his deal might eventually look downright
affordable.
He scored 67 points in 70 games last season despite being limited for a lengthy
stretch by a leg injury, and he added 11 points in 12 games during his first
postseason experience.
Carlsson is expected to be an unrestricted free agent when this contract ends
in 2031, putting him in line for another massive payday at just 26 years old
___
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