The Anaheim Ducks have officially matched the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet for center Leo Carlsson, signing him to a five-year deal with an annual average value of $18 million.
Five more years of LEO!https://t.co/3uscSK2GmJ
— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) July 9, 2026
The decision to keep Carlsson introduces a level of salary cap chaos rarely seen in the modern NHL era. Just days ago, Anaheim locked up defenseman Pavel Mintyukov to a five-year, $36 million extension ($7.2M AAV) to stave off a separate offer sheet threat, leaving the Ducks with less than $10 million in available cap space.
Carlsson emerged as a top-line center in the NHL with 29 goals and 38 assists for 67 points in 70 games. Carlsson followed that up with four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 12 playoff games.
“Matching the offer sheet was an easy decision, as Pat has intelligently left enough cap space to give us the ability to retain Leo,” said Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli. “We have extremely high expectations for Leo. We firmly believe he will continue his strong growth trajectory and become one of the truly elite centers in the league, while continuing to make a strong impact in our community.”
“We are very happy to have Leo under contract for five years,” said Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek. “We have viewed Leo as a franchise player since the moment we met him prior to the 2023 draft. 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.”
The Ducks qualified for the playoffs in 2025-26 after finishing seventh in the Western Conference with 43 wins and 92 points. The club was knocked out following a second-round defeat by the Vegas Golden Knights.