Around the NHL, the Philadelphia Flyers will be public enemy No. 1 after their ambitious Leo Carlsson offer sheet in an attempt to steal the player from under the noses of the Anaheim Ducks organization.
The Ducks, and the other 30 NHL teams, will be looking to get back at the Flyers and general manager Danny Briere at some point, which means the Flyers will have to set up their defenses and defend themselves in the future.
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NHL insider Elliotte Friedman compared the Flyers to the Carolina Hurricanes, the Metropolitan Division rival that knocked them out of the Stanley Cup playoffs, and won the Stanley Cup by deploying the same stratgey.
The Montreal Canadiens once signed Sebastian Aho with an offer sheet, the Hurricanes got the Canadiens back by swiping Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and then the Hurricanes tried to bully Edmonton out of Evan Bouchard before eventually getting K’Andre Miller from the New York Rangers.
That worked out well for them.
“Briere had a lot of his business lined up. Briere now will know he’ll be a target. If you look at Carolina, they did an offer sheet with Kotkaniemi that was revenge for the Aho one. They threatened Bouchard, and they threatened K’Andre Miller and they got the player,” Friedman mused on his latest episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast.
Insider: Flyers Planned Heist for NHL Superstar Before Leo Carlsson Offer Sheet
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“What has Carolina done? They’ve made sure they’re not vulnerable. They’ve gotten their guys signed. [Alexander Nikishin] is not eligible for [an offer sheet]. They know that one day, someone’s coming after them and they’ll have to defend themselves. Philly will have to do the same thing. They will have to make sure, with guys they really like, they are protected.
“Right now, because [Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras] have filed for arbitration, you can’t offer sheet them, so that’s sorted out.”
On top of Drysdale and Zegras going to arbitration, the Flyers have gotten Owen Tippett, Cam York, and Tyson Foerster locked down in recent years, and Matvei Michkov, who became eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1, will have to be next heading into a contract year.
The Flyers have set themselves up nicely for future success, but they’ll need to land Carlsson from the Ducks to make it count, then keep their foot on the gas in future negotiations to stay ahead of the game with other NHL front offices.
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