​The revelation from Leo Carlsson’s agents, Matt and Ryan Keator, offers a fascinating look at just how strategic modern NHL contract negotiations have become.While the Philadelphia Flyers’ staggering $90 million offer sheet, later matched by the Anaheim Ducks, shocked the hockey world, the strategy that led to it centered on a classic leverage play involving Chicago Blackhawks phenom Connor Bedard.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBefore the 2025-26 season even began, Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek attempted to secure Carlsson on a long-term extension, reportedly offering the young center an eight-year contract worth $84 million, carrying an average annual value of $10.5 million.For most players entering their second NHL contract, that would have been an easy decision.Instead, Carlsson’s agents, Matt and Ryan Keator, turned it down.Their reasoning had little to do with Anaheim’s offer itself. They wanted to wait and see what Connor Bedard’s next contract would look like before entering serious negotiations.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“Our focus was on (Connor) Bedard and seeing where that goes. And we told the Ducks that mid-June, we just said, hey, we’ve done a lot of research on the market. We’ve talked to them about the market, where we think it’s going. And we want to wait and see where Bedard ends up and then basically negotiate from there.“Again, they were doing their job. It was us saying no to really negotiating at that point, because we did want to see what Connor was going to get,” Matt Keator told Elliotte Friedman.The strategy made sense. Bedard and Carlsson were selected first and second overall, respectively, in the 2023 NHL Draft, making them natural comparables for contract negotiations.Carlsson’s camp believed whatever extension Chicago eventually gave Bedard would establish the new benchmark for elite young centers around the league.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe plan, however, took an unexpected turn.Before Bedard and the Blackhawks could finalize a new contract, Flyers general manager Danny Briere stepped in with a blockbuster eight-year, $90 million offer sheet for Carlsson.Anaheim ultimately matched the deal, but the offer instantly reset Carlsson’s market before Bedard had signed his own extension.In hindsight, the Keator brothers’ strategy worked even better than expected.By waiting instead of accepting Anaheim’s initial offer, Carlsson secured a contract worth an additional $6 million a year and increased his annual salary from $10.5 million to $18 million.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhat began as a plan to use Bedard’s next contract as a negotiating benchmark ended with Philadelphia rewriting the market entirely.ALSO READ: ‘They Have Destroyed The Ducks’: Ex-NHL D-Man Pulls No Punches Over $90,000,000 Leo Carlsson Turn of EventsThe Keators’ comments also offer a rare look behind the scenes of modern NHL negotiations, where agents often monito