Ducks Pay $90 Million to Keep Leo Carlsson. Here’s Why They Had to.

The Anaheim Ducks just made Leo Carlsson the highest-paid player in NHL history. And they didn’t do it by choice.

The Philadelphia Flyers threw a five-year, $90 million offer sheet at the 20-year-old forward, with an $18 million annual cap hit that no team has ever matched. Under NHL rules, Anaheim had seven days to decide: let him walk and collect four first-round picks, or match and keep their franchise centerpiece.

They matched. The Ducks confirmed the move, locking in Carlsson through the 2029-30 season.

This is a massive bet on what Carlsson can become, not what he already is. Through two NHL seasons, he’s played 109 games and put up 25 goals and 69 points. Good numbers for a kid who turned 20 in December. But $18 million a year? That’s Connor McDavid territory, and McDavid has four Hart Trophies and enough highlight reels to fill a streaming service.

So why didn’t the Ducks just take the picks?

The Franchise Player Argument

General Manager Pat Verbeek didn’t mince words when he explained the decision.

“We have viewed Leo as a franchise player since the moment we met him prior to the 2023 draft,” Verbeek said in a statement released through NHL.com. “He’s a character person on and off the ice. Leo is viewed as a top player in this league, and it was always our intention to match any offer sheet.”

Look, the Ducks have been rebuilding for years. They just finished dead last in the Pacific Division. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2017. If you’re an organization that desperate for a star, you don’t let the 6-foot-3 center you drafted third overall leave for draft picks that might turn into him. Or might turn into nothing. The Flyers basically forced Anaheim to overpay now rather than gamble on the unknown later.

And four first-rounders sound great in theory, but they come with no guarantees. The Ducks would’ve gotten Philadelphia’s first-round picks from 2026 through 2029, plus another one in 2025. Those picks could be late-firsts if the Flyers improve. Even if they’re lottery picks, drafting a franchise center is still a crapshoot. Carlsson is already in the building.

What This Means for the Ducks Salary Structure

Carlsson’s $18 million cap hit immediately becomes the highest in the league, bumping ahead of McDavid’s $13.25 million. That’s going to create some math problems. The Ducks have other young players who’ll need extensions soon, including defenseman Pavel Mintyukov and goalie Lukas Dostal. There’s only so much cap space to go around.

But Anaheim also has a ton of cap room right now. They’re not a cap-ceiling team yet. And the salary cap is expected to keep rising, which makes this contract look less insane in a few years if Carlsson develops into a true superstar.

The bigger question is whether Carlsson can stay healthy and consistent. He missed 27 games this season with a lower-body injury. He’s not a physical player who throws his weight around. He’s a skill guy, and the Ducks just committed $90 million to him being one of the best skill guys in the world.

It’s a risk. But for a team that’s been rebuilding forever, it’s the kind of risk you have to take. Letting him go would’ve been a hard sell to a fanbase that’s watched the Ducks miss the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons.