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NHL Notebook: Flyers make Ducks’ Leo Carlsson highest paid player with $18M AAV offer sheet
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Photo credit: © Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Jul 4, 2026, 15:10 EDT
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Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from around the National Hockey League — oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens!
Every year it seems there is some sort of threat that this summer may be the summer of offer sheets, but that speculation never really lives up to the hype. Well, it did early in this free agency window with the highest AAV contract handed out in National Hockey League history.

Flyers tender Leo Carlsson

On Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers announced they had tendered Anaheim Ducks centreman Leo Carlsson a massive $18 million AAV offer sheet. The Flyers will pay four first-round picks as compensation if the Ducks decide not to match the offer sheet.
Carlsson, 21, was selected by the Ducks second overall in the 2023 NHL Draft. Throughout his first NHL season, the Ducks managed Carlsson’s deployment, playing him in only 55 games to avoid exposing their young centreman too early. Since then, he has flourished.
The 6’3″ Swedish centre broke out as that top-line centre Anaheim believed he could become, scoring 29 goals and 38 assists for 67 points in 70 games, while logging over 19 minutes per game. Carlsson finished just two points shy of Cutter Gauthier for the team lead in points (69), but in six fewer games. At this current moment, Carlsson is the face of the Ducks franchise, and one that the organization believed would have a long career in Anaheim. Now, that is in jeopardy.
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek made it clear that he would be prepared to match whatever offer sheet came Carlsson’s way. However, how comfortable is he going to be matching that massive ticket?
It’s hard not to feel this situation could have been avoided entirely. Carlsson was extension eligible last offseason, when he said in an interview with Canucks’ Elias Pettersson that he would “for sure” sign a $9.5 million AAV, eight-year extension last summer.
Verbeek let it drag out throughout the entire season, allowing Carlsson to break out and increase his asking price. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Verbeek and Carlsson’s camp had conversations a few hours before signing the offer sheet, during which the Ducks’ offer was in the $12M-$13M AAV range, while the player was asking for $15M AAV. Now, Verbeek has to pay $5M-$6M more and for three fewer seasons than what they could have gotten their franchise centre for.
But this just hasn’t been how Verbeek has operated with his restricted free agents. In 2022, he dragged out negotiations with RFA Troy Terry until August. The next offseason, he did the same with RFAs Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale, except those talks went into training camp – both of those players have since been traded. Even last season, he took conversations with RFA Mason McTavish until training camp, and he was just traded at the 2026 NHL Draft.
The Ducks GM likes to play hardball with his RFAs. And while that may result in his team getting a better deal on their books, it damages relationships with him and his players.
Now, looking at the Ducks’ situation, they’re kind of screwed.
If they match Carlsson’s mega contract, they will have just over $17 million in cap space for next season. However, they still need to re-sign Gauthier, whom they gave up significant assets for and will surely want to keep around. Luckily for the Ducks, he is not eligible for an offer sheet. But now, what will Gauthier want on his deal with the Ducks’ new internal cap landscape? He may play a less prominent position than Carlsson, but Gauthier scored 41 goals last year and had two more points than Carlsson, all told.
Just to throw some numbers out there, if Carlsson was offered $12M-$13M AAV, Gauthier probably comes in around $10M AAV. Now if they’re paying Carlsson $18M AAV, Gauthier probably thinks he should come in around $14M-$15M.
Of course, they would still have the money to fit both forwards in, but what about their blueline? This offseason alone, they traded Olen Zellweger to the Buffalo Sabres, traded the rights to John Carlson and Radko Gudas, who signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, respectively, and lost Jacob Trouba to their California rival, the San Jose Sharks. The only replacement they’ve brought in this summer is 35-year-old Nick Jensen.
Here is how the Ducks’ defence corps looks for next season:
The Ducks struggled to keep the puck out of their net last season with the defenceman they lost from the lineup; I can’t imagine it is going to get much better now that this is the state of their blueline. And this is including unsigned RFA Pavel Mintyukov, who, according to PuckPedia, is being approached by several teams for a potential offer sheet as well.
Again, this puts the Ducks in a terrible situation. Do they match the offer, keep their franchise centreman, and complicate their internal cap? Or do they let the player walk, keep their internal cap respectable, take the compensation, and use those four first-round picks to try to find a new centreman and maybe shore up their blueline? We’ll find out by July 10.
For the Flyers, this is a slam dunk. They’re clearly ready to take the next step into contention after getting a taste of the playoffs last season. Philadelphia has a plethora of talented wingers but little help down the middle. That will all change if the Ducks don’t match the offer sheet.
They may be in a bit of trouble with their books if this goes through. The Flyers currently have over $29 million in cap space, so no issue fitting Carlsson’s $18M AAV in. However, that would leave them just over $11M to sign RFAs Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale. Defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen’s name always seems to be in trade discussions, so clearing his $5.1 million would ensure they could lock both of those young players up.
But when an opportunity presents itself to potentially steal a player of Carlsson’s ilk, you shoot first, ask questions later. The Flyers did that with this offer.
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