Ducks Match Flyers' $90 Million Offer Sheet for Leo Carlsson at $18 Million a Year
Updated
Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 9
Ducks Match Flyers' $90 Million Offer Sheet for Leo Carlsson at $18 Million a Year
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 9
Summary
$90 million over five years will keep Leo Carlsson in Anaheim after the Ducks matched Philadelphia's offer sheet, locking in the 21-year-old center through 2030-31.
$18 million annually makes Carlsson the NHL's highest-paid player, and the deal reportedly carries nearly $40 million in bonuses in the first 12 months.
Philadelphia's strategy was to force pain either way: Anaheim had ample cap space to match a normal deal, but this price resets the Ducks' salary structure around a player coming off 29 goals and 67 points.
That pressure is already spilling into other negotiations after defenseman Pavel Mintyukov reportedly landed five years at $7.2 million following an offer sheet, above Anaheim's earlier target.
With Cutter Gauthier and Beckett Sennecke also due for expensive extensions, the Ducks risk losing roughly $10 million in annual flexibility that could have supported the rest of their rebuild.