​We already knew Leo Carlsson was on track to become the NHL’s highest-paid player, and on Thursday the Anaheim Ducks made it official by covering the offer sheet the Philadelphia Flyers extended to him in restricted free agency last week. The team announced that it has matched the five-year, $90 million contract, leaving no doubt that Carlsson will remain in Anaheim. If the Ducks had chosen not to match, Philadelphia would have received four first-round picks in a compensatory package. Ultimately, Anaheim decided that keeping a rising star at a record-setting price was preferable to banking on draft capital and cap space yielding comparable value.
In the Ducks’ own words from the announcement, the decision to match was straightforward: “Matching the offer sheet was an easy decision, as Pat has intelligently left enough cap space to give us the ability to retain Leo. We have extremely high expectations for Leo. We firmly believe he will continue his strong growth trajectory and become one of the truly elite centers in the league, while continuing to make a strong impact in our community,” said Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli.
On an average annual value basis, the deal averages $18 million per season, topping the $17 million per year in Kirill Kaprizov’s eight-year, $136 million extension with the Minnesota Wild signed last fall.
Carlsson, the second overall pick behind Connor Bedard in the 2023 NHL Draft, just finished his third NHL season with a breakout year, ranking second on Anaheim in points with 67 (29 goals, 38 assists). While the move to lock him up for a long term was significant, the decision followed a period of intense scrutiny. The 2023-24 season had him posting career highs in multiple categories, including his points total, a development that made the Ducks’ choice to retain him even more compelling.
Signing the offer sheet wasn’t a difficult call for Carlsson, although he described the past few days as “probably the weirdest week of my life.” He added, via the Ducks: “I mean, it was an offer that I think 99% of everybody would sign to. It changed my family and all that too. So it’s a pretty simple answer there, but I always wanted to be here too, so I just really hoped they would match.”
The number still stands out—paying a player at an elite-level rate before he has truly proven himself as one of the game’s top performers. It also underscores what some executives viewed as a miscalculation by Flyers general manager Pat Verbeek during negotiations with Carlsson, who had previously said in an interview last summer, when the Ducks held exclusive rights, that “I’d take that, for sure,” in reference to an eight-year, $9.5 million contract.
Carlsson’s week wasn’t over, either. Cutter Gauthier, who led Anaheim in scoring last season with 69 points, remains a restricted free agent, and the Ducks have less than $10 million in projected cap space to sign him, regardless of any other moves that could affect their flexibility.
In sum, Anaheim decided to invest heavily in a no-doubt rising talent, choosing certainty over potential future value from draft picks. The Sacramento of the Ducks’ franchise now centers on Carlsson as it looks to propel him toward elite status, while the organization grapples with what this means for the rest of the roster and cap management in the coming seasons.