Flyers tender offer sheet to Ducks star Leo CarlssonRyan S. ClarkJul 3, 2026, 04:07 PM ETClose
- Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
The Philadelphia Flyers reported Friday that they have tendered an offer to sheet to Anaheim Ducks star center Leo Carlsson for a five-year deal that’s worth $18 million annually.
Carlsson being a restricted free agent means that he’s still under team control by the Ducks, who know have seven days to match the offer submitted by the Flyers, per the NHL and NHL Players Association Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Philadelphia, in the event Anaheim fails to match its offer, must give its four first-round picks over the next four seasons as compensation.
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The AAV would make Carlsson the highest-paid player in the NHL with the highest AAV going to Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl at $14 million annually.
Anaheim is projected to have $35.173 million in cap space, according to PuckPedia. One of the reasons why the Ducks were limited compared to other teams throughout the Western Conference in free agency was because of players such as Carlsson needing new deals.
Philadelphia is projected to have more than $29 million in cap space with the idea that adding Carlsson would add to a group that already has eight players who have more than three years remaining on their deals.
Signing Carlsson would still leave the Flyers with enough cap space to also get a deal done for RFA center Trevor Zegras, the former Duck who was traded to the Flyers last June for forward Ryan Poehling and a pair of draft picks.
Carlsson is one of three prominent RFAs for the Ducks. It’s a group that includes forward Cutter Gauthier and defenseman Pavel Mintyukov. The Flyers drafted Gauthier with the fifth pick in 2022 before trading his rights to the Ducks in 2024 after he refused to sign him the franchise that drafted him.
Setting money aside from those three is what led to Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek signing goaltender Laurent Brossoit, forward A.J. Greer and veteran defenseman Nick Jensen once free agency started Wednesday.
Signing Carlsson to a new contract was already one of the major priorities facing the Ducks entering the offseason well before the Flyers revealed their offer sheet.
Especially as the 21-year-old who was drafted second in 2023 used this season to show why he’s one of the Ducks’ franchise cornerstones.
Carlsson finished with 29 goals and 67 points in 70 games in a season that was interrupted by injuries which is why he did not play for Sweden at the Olympics in February.
What he did was more than enough to help the Ducks reach the playoffs for the first time since 2018. And Carlsson’s first postseason saw him tap into more of that promise.
He scored four goals and 11 assists over a 12-game run that saw the Ducks advance to the second round where they lost to the eventual Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights.
Verbeek constructing one of the NHL’s strongest farm systems has been the foundation for this current iteration of the franchise. However, it has come at a cost. Goaltender Lukas Dostal is going into the second season of a five-year deal worth $6.5 million annually while defenseman Jackson LaCombe is about to enter the first of a nine-year pact worth $9 million annually. This also comes a year after the Ducks signed forward Mason McTavish to a six-year deal worth $7 million annually before trading him to the St. Louis Blues in late June.
Watching the Ducks now contend with the added challenge of an offer sheet also comes as there are other teams needing to get new contracts completed for their RFAs. Chicago Blackhawks center Connor Bedard along with Columbus Blue Jackets center Adam Fantilli are among those RFAs coming off their ELCs. Then there’s another group of RFAs led by Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson that are trying to agree to a third deal that can see them cash in on their UFA years.
On Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils submitted an offer sheet to Utah Mammoth forward Barrett Hayton that was a one year deal worth $4.775 million annually. The Mammoth also have a week from last Wednesday to match or they’ll receive a 2027 second-round draft pick from the Devils as compensation.
