July 7, 2026, 1:07 p.m. ET

The Philadelphia Flyers‘ absolutely stunning offer sheet to Leo Carlsson has been the biggest story of the NHL offseason by far. Ahead of a long holiday weekend, Carlsson signed the Flyers’ massive five-year, $90 million offer sheet that makes the 21-year-old center the highest paid player in the NHL by average annual value at $18 million.

The Ducks have until Friday to either match the Flyers’ offer sheet and retain Carlsson at that five-year, $90 million number or decline and receive four first-round picks from Philadelphia in the next four consecutive years. Carlsson, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, is a cornerstone piece for the Ducks and projects to be their top center amidst their young, deep core.

So, if Carlsson is so important, why haven’t the Ducks matched the Flyers offer sheet yet? Well, it’s not as cut and dry as you’d like if you’re a Ducks fan, so let’s dig into the details of this offer sheet and discuss whether or not Anaheim will match by week’s end.

Despite the NHL’s salary cap going up, the Ducks only have so much space

With Carlsson’s contract on the books and the recent re-signing of defenseman Pavel Mintyukov to a five-year extension, the Ducks would have nearly $10 million in cap space for next season if he stayed. That’s great, right? Well, the Ducks still have stud forward Cutter Gauthier to sign this offseason and given Carlsson’s shiny new $18 million a year deal, one would expect that he’d want a big pay raise too.

Gauthier scored over 40 goals last season, so a $9 million per year deal likely isn’t going to cut it for the young star. It was already going to be a tight fit with Carlsson and Gauthier, but the threat of an offer sheet on Mintyukov made the Ducks overpay their young defenseman and take up even more cap space that they need.

The Ducks could trade a player like Frank Vatrano to free up cap space, but he has a modified no-trade clause that would require work to move. Any of Anaheim’s other trade options would also require a bit of maneuvering to make work and would certainly cut into the Ducks’ roster depth.

Plus, the Ducks are thin on defense right now, so locking up Gauthier alongside matching the Carlsson offer sheet and trading away some depth might not even solve their problem on the back end.

However, Pat Verbeek’s pride is on the line with this Carlsson offer sheet

The Ducks are in a rough spot right now, even more so that general manager Pat Verbeek boasted about matching any offer sheet thrown Carlsson’s way just days before the Flyers made their move.

Now, the Ducks are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Verbeek is known as a “little ball of hate” from his playing days, but as an executive he’s shown himself to be a very tough negotiator with his players and loves having total control of a situation. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, Verbeek has lost control of this situation and it’s unknown what this will do to the Ducks going forward.

Plus, Verbeek is the reason why the Ducks are in this situation to begin with. To allow Carlsson, Gauthier and Mintyukov to reach RFA status without contract extensions in place was a major mistake that has Anaheim scrambling to find the money needed to keep all of their pieces. If the Ducks don’t match and let Carlsson walk, the Ducks’ reputation across the NHL will likely suffer for it.

So, will the Ducks match Leo Carlsson’s offer sheet?

As of Tuesday, it’s really hard to say. NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported that there’s a growing sense that Carlsson doesn’t even want to be in Anaheim anymore, which could tip the scales in the Flyers’ favor. But many across the league still believe that despite all the problems and complications that will arise from the decision, the Ducks will swallow the money and match Carlsson’s offer sheet.

As for what will actually happen? We’ll just have to wait and see.