The Anaheim Ducks matched Philadelphia’s offer sheet for Leo Carlsson. That much is official. But the 22-year-old forward made it pretty clear where his heart was the whole time.
“It was an offer that 99 percent of people would sign too,” Carlsson said, via Zach Cavanagh. “It’s a pretty simple answer. I really wanted to be here, though. I really wanted them to match. I want to be an Anaheim Duck.”
So yeah. The money was life-changing. Five years, $90 million. An $18 million cap hit that set a new NHL record for the highest single-season charge on any contract. But Carlsson wasn’t angling for a move east. He wanted the Ducks to step up. And they did.
Why Anaheim Said Yes
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek called the decision easy. Not because the offer sheet from Flyers GM Daniel Briere was easy to swallow — it was massive and forced Anaheim into a corner — but because Verbeek sees Carlsson as the kind of player you build around.
“We have viewed Leo as a franchise player since the moment we met him prior to the 2023 draft,” Verbeek said. “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.”
That’s the kind of language you use for a guy you think can be your face of the franchise for the next half-decade. And the Ducks backed it up with the checkbook.
The Offer Sheet Game
Offer sheets don’t get signed that often in the NHL. They’re aggressive, they piss off GMs, and they usually backfire. Briere rolled the dice here. He offered Carlsson a contract that would have forced the Ducks into a brutal decision — match and pay a king’s ransom, or lose a 22-year-old who already has 61 goals and 80 assists in 201 career games.
Anaheim matched. That means Philadelphia walks away empty-handed. No compensation. No trade. Just a reminder that you can’t pry away a team’s young star unless they’re willing to let him go.
Carlsson, the second overall pick in the 2023 draft, is now locked up through the 2029-30 season. The Ducks are betting that he keeps growing into the franchise player Verbeek described. And Carlsson, for his part, seems relieved it all worked out this way.
He didn’t want to leave. He just wanted the Ducks to prove they wanted him back. They did, at a cost that will define Anaheim’s cap sheet for years.
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