The Anaheim Ducks took a huge leap forward in 2025/26, and after taking out the Pacific Division rival Edmonton Oilers in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the future looked incredibly bright for a team that battled through a seven-year post-season drought beforehand.
However, the early returns in the off-season have been less than stellar for the team, as they signed A.J. Greer to a questionable deal before moving Mason McTavish and Olen Zellweger, with the team ultimately losing Jacob Trouba to free agency as well. Then, things reached rock bottom when Leo Carlsson signed a five-year, $18 million offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the Ducks seven days to match the deal.
Ducks Officially Match the Offer Sheet for Leo Carlsson
GettyLeo Carlsson of the Anaheim Ducks.
Given that Carlsson is just 21-years-old, the Flyers were clearly betting on his upside, and while many believed the Ducks would match the deal, as a result of him becoming the highest paid player in the National Hockey League, there were questions over whether they would do that or not.
On Thursday, all of those doubts were put to bed, with the team releasing an official statement that they have now matched the offer sheet signed by the Flyers, with Carlsson now being a key piece of their future at $18 million per season.
On paper, this may be seen as an overpay for Carlsson, but given how hard it is to find a 1C in the modern National Hockey League, with Carlsson expected to be just that for a decade to come, this was always the best thing that the Ducks could have done in this situation.
How Will This Effect the Rest of the Young Ducks Core?
Right now, the Ducks have the trio of Pavel Mintyukov, Jackson Lacombe and Lukas Dostal locked down long-term, but even after this deal, they have pending deals for both Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Senecke that need to be signed, putting the team in a tough position.
Following the Carlsson move, the team have just over $9 million remaining in salary cap space, and with both Gauthier and Senecke expected to ask for at least that much money, they will need to make some subsequent moves if they are to keep the rest of their core in tact. Unfortunately for GM Pat Verbeek, that’s going to be much easier said than done, and now that Carlsson is getting paid $18 million per season, the price on both of his star wingers has likely gone up, meaning that there’s still plenty of work to be done if this team wants to take a step forward from last year.
Only time will tell whether or not Verbeek can make the moves necessary to not only keep this core in tact, but keep the team competitive over the long haul, but given how much Carlsson means to this team and their future, matching the offer sheet was always the only move that they could make.
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