After the latest signing from the Anaheim Ducks, the Philadelphia Flyers are as close to a successful Leo Carlsson offer sheet as they have ever been.
On Sunday, with the looming threat of an offer sheet to defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, the Ducks signed the Russian defenseman to a five-year, $36 million contract that carries an AAV of $7.2 million, clogging up the team’s cap space even further.
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As a result, the Flyers are now in pole position to actually end up landing Carlsson, 21, with their offer sheet.
According to PuckPedia, with Carlsson and his $18 million AAV on their books, the Ducks have a measly $9.973 million remaining to re-sign star sniper and ex-Flyers prospect Cutter Gauthier–another restricted free agent–as well as defenseman Tyson Hinds.
The Ducks can give themselves a bit more money by moving Laurent Brossoit and his $1.1 million cap hit to the AHL, and by putting veteran forward Troy Terry (hip) on long-term injured reserve to create another $7 million in space until November or December, when he’ll eventually return from his injury.
That isn’t a permanent solution, though, as we can safely assume that Gauthier will get at least $10 million annually on his next contract, if not more due to Carlsson’s situation.
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Hinds won’t cost the Ducks much money, but the problem there is that the Ducks would be rolling into the season with a group of defenseman that consists of Hinds, Ian Moore, Jackson LaCombe, Mintyukov, Nick Jensen, Drew Helleson, and Tristan Luneau.
Report: Leo Carlsson Chose Flyers’ Offer Sheet Over Other NHL Teams
Report: Leo Carlsson Chose Flyers’ Offer Sheet Over Other NHL Teams By signing Leo Carlsson to an offer sheet, the Philadelphia Flyers successfully attracted one of the best young talents in the NHL.
That is far from inspiring, and they have no chance of contending for a Stanley Cup with Carlsson’s $18 million cap hit prohibiting them from making any meaningful upgrades.
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This is all to say that the Flyers have effectively forced the Ducks into making a big decision: it has to be Gauthier or Carlsson, but not both.
If it is both, then the team has no chance of succeeding.
The Flyers, on the other hand, have positioned themselves nicely in this situation.
Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale have filed for arbitration, erasing any chance of a potential retaliatory offer sheet from the Ducks or other NHL teams.
Forward Tyson Foerster just signed a big-time contract extension, and yet, the Flyers don’t have any players with a cap hit greater than $9 million… only half of what Carlsson would be getting.
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Other cap implications to note: Carlsson would be a free agent in 2031, which is the season after captain Sean Couturier’s big $7.75 million cap hit contract expires. Christian Dvorak, too, will be a free agent in 2031, and Owen Tippett will be a free agent in 2032.
With Carlsson’s five-year deal running until that timeframe, the Flyers are making a smart bet on the rising cap, and betting that they can contend with the core they’ve built now.
For all intents and purposes, this core is a lot better than the one Pat Verbeek built, then destroyed, in Anaheim.
Drysdale, Zegras, John Gibson, Mason McTavish, Olen Zellweger, Ryan Strome, Cam Fowler, Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Jacob Trouba have all left the Ducks in recent seasons, via trade or via free agency, and it will be a damning indictment against Anaheim if Carlsson is next out the door joining the Flyers.
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