The Anaheim Ducks made a decision regarding their franchise player Leo Carlsson. They decided to match the Philadelphia Flyers staggering $90 million offer sheet that will pay Carlsson $18 million per season over the next five years. This contract makes Carlsson the highest paid player in the NHL.
The Ducks avoid complete disaster and hang onto their star player. Losing Carlsson would have dealt a devastating blow to this promising team that is coming off of a postseason appearance this past year. With that said, the prospects of general manager Pat Verbeek being able to keep his young core together has been made more complicated with this rich deal.
Ducks Have Other Young Guns to Lock Up
In terms of extensions to take care of this summer, Carlsson was the most important one for the Ducks. That process was made more complicated than it needed to be with the offer sheet that caught the team by surprise. As a result, Verbeek was forced to pay Carlsson significantly more than he expected.
This deal has put Anaheim in a bind when it comes to maintaining this youth group that has been steadily built throughout their rebuild. The biggest name that will be impacted by this development is forward Cutter Gauthier. Like Carlsson, Gauthier entered this summer as an RFA. He is in need of a new deal, one that projects to become even richer following Carlsson’s situation.
Insider David Pagnotta projects that Gauthier will cash in considerably on his next contract. Discussing this manner on The Sheet, Pagnotta stated: “The last couple of days, the talk around Cutter Gauthier was 15 [million AAV], after the [Leo Carlsson] offer sheet; some people said, don’t be surprised if it’s even higher.”
Just like Carlsson, there is a good chance Gauthier will receive a more lucrative contract than Anaheim would have thought heading into the summer. Flyers general manager Daniel Briere has put Verbeek in a sticky dilemma with how he handles these future contracts. Carlsson’s number has set the market for the rest to follow.
This Offseason Has Been a Disaster for Anaheim
Overall, this offseason has not gone to plan thus far for Anaheim. This is a team that is looking to take that next step in 2026-2027 after what was a successful campaign this past year. The summer has been made more complicated than necessary with these recent developments.
The Carlsson relationship will also have to be repaired after this. The team will need to smooth things over with him after all the drama that led to Philadelphia’s offer sheet. The fact Carlsson was willing to sign the offer shows that he is not fully happy with his team.
With that being said, the Ducks avoided the worst case scenario by not losing their prized piece. They had no choice here; they had to match the sheet. Losing a player of Carlsson’s caliber would have been catastrophic. This is still a team with plenty of promise and a bright future. It will be interesting to see how Anaheim navigates the waters with the rest of their lineup in need of new contracts after how the Carlsson signing went down.
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