The NHL will have a new highest-paid player, and it’s happening via the offer sheet route.
The Philadelphia Flyers announced on Friday, July 3, that they have tendered a five-year, $90 million offer sheet to the Anaheim Ducks’ Leo Carlsson. The $18 million average will move Carlsson, 21, past the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov, who’s averaging $17 million starting this season.
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The Ducks have seven days to decide whether to match the offer. If they don’t, they will receive four first-round draft picks from the Flyers.
Carlsson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, had 29 goals, 38 assists for 67 points in 70 regular season games last season with the Ducks. He added 11 points in 12 playoff games to help lead Anaheim to the second round.
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 1 Toronto Maple Leafs: Gavin McKenna
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 1 Toronto Maple Leafs: Gavin McKenna
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 2 San Jose Sharks: Ivar Stenberg
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No. 3 Vancouver Canucks: Caleb Malhotra
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No. 4 Buffalo Sabres: Daxon Rudolph
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No. 5 New York Rangers: Alberts Smits
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 6 Calgary Flames: Carson Carels
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 7 Seattle Kraken: Chase Reid
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 8 Winnipeg Jets: Viggo Bjorck
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 9 San Jose Sharks: Keaton Verhoeff
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No. 10 Nashville Predators: Wyatt Cullen
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No. 11 St. Louis Blues: Tynan Lawrence
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 12 New Jersey Devils: Alexander Command
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No. 13 New York Islanders: Malte Gustafsson
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No. 14 Columbus Blue Jackets: Oscar Hemming
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No. 15 Anaheim Ducks: Nikita Klepov
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Every first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft
No. 16 St. Louis Blues: Maddox Dagenais
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No. 17 Utah Mammoth: Ethan Belchetz
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No. 18 Washington Capitals: Oliver Suvanto
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No. 19 Los Angeles Kings: Elton Hermansson
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No. 20 Buffalo Sabres: Ilia Morozov
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No. 21 San Jose Sharks: Ryan Lin
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No. 22 Pittsburgh Penguins: Liam Ruck
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No. 23 Detroit Red Wings: J.P. Hurlbert
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No. 24 Vancouver Canucks: Adam Novotny
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No. 25 Ottawa Senators: Jonas Lagerberg Hoen
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No. 26 Montreal Canadiens: Gleb Pugachyov
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No. 27 Philadelphia Flyers: Maksim Sokolovskii
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No. 28 Anaheim Ducks: Marcus Nordmark
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No. 29 Vegas Golden Knights: Juho Piiparinen
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No. 30 Calgary Flames: Jack Hextall
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No. 31 Nashville Predators: Tommy Bleyl
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No..32 Ottawa Senators: Jaxson Cover
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According to puckpedia.com, the Ducks will have $17 million left in cap space if they match the offer sheet. They still have to re-sign restricted free agents Cutter Gauthier and Pavel Mintyukov and beef up their defense after the departures of Jacob Trouba and Radko Gudas. Plus, rookie of the year finalist Beckett Sennecke needs to be re-signed next summer.
The Flyers’ offer sheet is the NHL’s second since the July 1 signing period opened. The New Jersey Devils gave a one-year, $4.775 million offer sheet to the Utah Mammoth’s Barrett Hayton.
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Follow along for live updates on Day 3 of NHL free agency:
Toronto Maple Leafs sign Gavin McKenna
McKenna, the No. 1 overall pick at the 2026 NHL draft, will get the standard three-year entry-level contract. He will have to change his usual No. 72 because newly signed free agent goalie Sergei Bobrovsky wears that.
New Jersey Devils sign goalie David Rittich
Rittiich gets a one-year, $1 million contract and join Jake Allen in the Devils’ netminding tandem after spending last season as Ilya Samsonov’s backup on the New York Islanders. The Devils traded goalie Jacob Markstrom to the Panthers on June 30.
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Dallas Stars re-sign captain Jamie Benn
The Stars are bringing Benn back for an 18th season. The captain gets a one-year contract for $850,000, plus an additional $1,150,000 in potential performance bonuses. He had 36 points last season and needs eight more to reach 1,000 career points.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Flyers give offer sheet to Ducks’ Leo Carlsson that makes him top-paid player
