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Huge news.
Leo Carlsson is set to earn $18 million a year (!) for the next five years. But we don't yet know where he'll be playing next season.
Why? Because the Ducks player has accepted a hostile offer from the Flyers.
We have tendered an offer sheet to Anaheim center Leo Carlsson. The offer is a five-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $18M, which would require four of the Flyers' first-round draft picks in each of the next four seasons as compensation. https://t.co/nfhD4h6nEc
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 3, 2026
He will earn $90M over five years, making him (on an annual basis) the highest-paid player in the NHL, ahead of Kirill Kaprizov, who plays for the Wild for $17M per year.
The Ducks have a week to decide whether to keep Carlsson or take the Flyers' first four draft picks instead. They're ready to match any offer, as the GM recently stated. We'll see if that's true.
The two teams have crossed paths before in the Cutter Gauthier situation—who is also looking for a contract right now. But this time, Daniel Brière is eager to land a true, top-tier center.
And he's taken steps to make that happen by targeting one of the NHL's top young prospects.
The Flyers, who made a hostile 14-year offer to Shea Weber exactly… 14 years ago, find themselves at the center of the biggest story of the offseason.
If the offer is matched, will it be awkward for him to return to Anaheim?
The Ducks, who have plenty of cap space, didn't take care of their young player before he became eligible for such an offer. Pat Verbeek could have handled that better, couldn't he?
Trevor Zegras… Mason McTavish… potentially Leo Carlsson… the team is losing its young players one by one. And that's partly the GM's fault.
Extension
Drafted second overall in 2023, the Ducks' (or Flyers') center is one of the best players in the NHL. He racked up 67 points in 2025–2026… and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
But is that worth $18 million a year? Only time will tell.
