Fourteen years after tendering an offer sheet to Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber but failing to land him, the Philadelphia Flyers have done it again. According to the team, they’ve tendered an offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson that would make him the highest-paid player in the NHL: $18 million annually over five years.
The Ducks have seven days to match this contract. If they don’t, they’d receive the Flyers’ first-round picks for the next four years (2027, 2028, 2029, and 2030).
Carlsson Emerged as a Star Center in 2025-26
Carlsson, drafted second overall by the Ducks in 2023, is one of the league’s budding young centers. He recorded 29 goals and 38 assists for 67 points in 70 games for Anaheim in 2025-26, leading them to a playoff berth. He added 11 points in 12 postseason contests.
The Ducks can hardly afford to lose Carlsson. He is already a high-end playmaker at 21 years old, only projecting to improve as the years go on.
Thus, it should be assumed that the Ducks match this deal, even if it means making Carlsson the highest-paid player in the league. According to PuckPedia, the team has $35 million in cap space, which is more than enough to bring back the young center. Spending more than half of that cap space isn’t ideal, but it’s probably the right call.
The assumption should be that the Ducks match this contract, especially with insider Elliotte Friedman reporting they’d match any Carlsson offer sheet on July 2, but nothing is guaranteed. We’ll just have to wait over the next seven days to see if the futures in Anaheim and Philadelphia are completely altered or if the Ducks have to pay their star center a little more than they bargained for.
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