Leo Carlsson will not be joining the Philadelphia Flyers, as the Anaheim Ducks matched the five-year, $18 million offer sheet on Thursday. It was a hopeful week for those in Philadelphia, and the hockey world had its eyes on Anaheim ahead of the Ducks’ decision.
While the Ducks took nearly the full seven days to decide to match, they quickly got the $90 million man in front of the cameras for a media availability on Thursday afternoon.
Carlsson explains why he signed Flyers’ offer sheet
“I mean, it was an offer that I think 99% of everybody would sign to. It changed my family and all that, too,” Carlsson said. “So it’s a pretty simple answer there, but I always wanted to be here too, so I just really hoped they would match.”
“It was just too good to pass on,” he said. “I think everybody understands that, too.”
It’s certainly not hard to understand why a player would look to make the most money they can on a contract. There were 90 million reasons for Carlsson to sign the offer sheet. Everyone can understand that, including those inside the Ducks locker room.
“I talked to my teammates a lot, Carlsson said. “Everybody was just super happy for me and supportive with the decisions I made…
“I don’t think I had one bad reaction. They were all super happy for me, super stoked for me. Yeah, they just said that I deserve it. So yeah, super happy for me and hope that I stayed.”
Carlsson on his relationship with Pat Verbeek
Pat Verbeek let it be known that the Ducks would match any offer sheet that Carlsson signed. This, combined with Verbeek’s past drawn-out negotiations with young players in similar situations, made it easy for Carlsson to go offer sheet shopping, realistically.
The new $90 million man showed no ill will towards his general manager. In fact, the two have a solid relationship.
“I think he understands my decision, too, when he saw the number,” Carlsson said of Verbeek. “So yeah, no hard feelings between us right now. It’s a great relationship.”
At the same time, Carlsson revealed that he didn’t know that the Ducks would be matching the offer sheet until Thursday, just like the rest of us.
“A couple of minutes ago, I would say,” he recalled. “We just had a meeting, so right before it came out.”
Mind you, this was already over seven minutes into the press conference, so “a couple of minutes” isn’t an exact science. Of course, the Ducks don’t want to have to deal with any leaks, but a vote of confidence to the player before the day you’re matching the contract would probably be a better look.
While Carlsson made the decision to sign with a different team, it didn’t necessarily mean that he didn’t want to leave Anaheim.
“I always wanted to be a Duck,” he said. “It’s home too, so I’m just super excited to be back.”
Ultimately, Carlsson is definitely happy with the contract, and only time will tell if it was the right move for him and the Ducks.
“When you see that number, it’s hard to say no,” Carlsson concluded. “Again, my teammates understand too, completely, and they would’ve done the same thing.”
Carlsson now has the highest average annual value (AAV) in the league at $18 million. That likely isn’t going to last too long. Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Ducks teammate Cutter Gauthier are all restricted free agents.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Carlsson offer sheet impacts contracts across the league, as well as the inner workings for the Ducks and Flyers after a week in limbo.
