One of the most fun things about the NHL is the specter of offer sheets hanging over teams with highly-prized restricted free agents, as was the case this year for the Anaheim Ducks and 21-year-old Swedish superstar Leo Carlsson.
While the Ducks have maintained they’ll match any offer sheet, they may not have been prepared for the monster offer Philadelphia Flyers GM Danny Briere was willing to make.
Five years with an AAV of $18 million, which would make Carlsson the highest-paid player in the league.
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Now, here’s where the fun begins: the Ducks have a week to match that offer. If they decide they don’t want to, Carlsson will become a Flyer, and the Ducks will receive Philadelphia’s first-round draft picks in each of the next four seasons.
It’s about as high-risk, high-reward as it gets.
The Philadelphia Flyers have sent an offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks RFA Leo Carlsson that would make him the highest-paid player in hockey. (Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images)
The Flyers had a surprisingly strong season in 2025-26, and clearly Briere thinks that trend will continue. So, he’s willing to push all of his chips to the center of the table for a top-line center, something the Flyers really need.
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Of course, coughing up draft picks like that, should things go sideways, is a real gamble.
Anaheim is in a similar bind here. They may not want to part with Carlsson just after the team returned to the postseason.
However, according to Puckpedia, they’ve got just over $17 million in projected cap space (I suspect Daniel Briere was acutely aware of this), meaning to match the offer sheet, they’ll have to move some money around.
Depending on what the Anaheim Ducks decide to do, Leo Carlsson could be wearing a different shade of orange next season. (Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images)
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Do they want to do that? Or do they think they can continue without Carlsson while bringing in a haul of draft picks they can also use in trades?
We’ll have to see what the Ducks decide, but this is exactly why offer sheets are quietly one of the wildest things the NHL has to offer.
