The Anaheim Ducks have matched the Philadelphia Flyers’ five-year offer sheet for center Leo Carlsson, the team announced. Carlsson’s new $18 million AAV will begin in the 2026-27 season.
Breaking: The Anaheim Ducks have matched a five-year offer sheet extended by the Philadelphia Flyers to center Leo Carlsson, the team announced.
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Carlsson’s five-year contract worth an average annual value of $18 million will begin in the 2026-27 NHL season and run through the… pic.twitter.com/bPU99bkdDX
— ESPN (@espn) July 9, 2026
The 21-year-old was drafted second overall by the Ducks in the 2023 NHL Draft. He had a career year last season, finishing with 29 goals and 38 assists across 70 games. He has spent his entire three-year career in Anaheim.
The Flyers offered the restricted free agent a five-year, $90 million contract, which would make him the highest paid player in NHL history. If Carlsson did sign for the Flyers, Philadelphia would have had to give up four first-round picks in return if Anaheim didn’t match the offer.
Retaining Carlsson is huge for the Ducks. They lost a plethora of key players this offseason, such as Jacob Trouba, captain Radko Gudas, Olen Zellweger, and Mason McTavish.
Carlsson has emerged as an elite playmaker, and Anaheim hopes he can become their guy to lead them to back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since 2017-18.
