Flyers Force Ducks’ Hand With Massive Offer Sheet for Leo Carlsson

Philadelphia tenders Leo Carlsson in $90M offer sheet

The Flyers offered Leo Carlsson $90M in an offer sheet, putting the Ducks in a tough spot. Anaheim previously said they would “guarantee” to match any offer.

Anaheim under pressure, Flyers offer Carlsson 5-year, $90m deal...

The Philadelphia Flyers went for the jugular on Friday, dropping an offer sheet on Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson and throwing the NHL into chaos.

The Flyers’ offer is for 5 years, $90 million - an $18M AAV that would make Carlsson the highest-paid player in the league. Anaheim now has a decision: match it and burn through most of their $35M in cap space, or let their star walk.

The deal is heavily front-loaded with signing bonuses. In year one, Carlsson would get nearly $20 million in bonuses plus an $850k base salary.

Anaheim has always said they would “guaranteed” match any offer for Carlsson. Now they’ve got seven days to do exactly that, or they lose their young franchise center to Philadelphia.

We have tendered an offer sheet to Anaheim center Leo Carlsson. The offer is a five-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $18M, which would require four of the Flyers first-round draft picks in each of the next four seasons as compensation. https://t.co/nfhD4h6nEc

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 3, 2026

Basically, the Flyers put the Ducks in a corner. Whether Philly meant to start a cap nightmare in Anaheim or just wanted Carlsson is still up for debate.

The irony isn’t lost here. The Flyers sent Cutter Gauthier to Anaheim in January 2024 after he refused to sign in Philly. Now they could flip that and land Carlsson instead - a 21-year-old center coming off 29 goals and 38 assists in 70 games who was a big part of the Ducks’ playoff push last year.

Carlsson offer sheet with #LetsGoFlyers breakdown:

Yr 1: $850K Salary, $19.95M Signing Bonus
Yr 2: $900K/$18.1M
Yr 3: $950K/$17.05M
Yr 4: $1M/$15.2M
Yr 5: $1M/$15M

NMC in Yr 5

Signing Bonus per @reporterchris

Rep’d by Matt Keatorhttps://t.co/dXmNTJXiYu

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 3, 2026

Per insider Kevin Weekes, Anaheim had been planning to lock up both Gauthier and Carlsson in the $10M to $12M AAV range before Philadelphia dropped this offer sheet.