Danny Briere distracted the Nation’s Birthplace from the holiday festivities with a late splash in the final minutes before a monumental Fourth of July weekend began.
Ducks Center Leo Carlsson
Carlsson scored 29 goals and added 38 assists in 70 games for the Ducks last season. He’s averaged 58 points per 82 games played in parts of three seasons since the Ducks selected him with the second-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
The 6-foot-3 center brings the size, the shot, and the play-making ability to reach the top tier of NHL centers during the upcoming prime-age seasons of his career. The lucrative $18 million annual value of the five-year contract will carry him through his age 27 season in 2030-31.
His slick hands helped create highlight-reel plays during Anaheim’s breakout season to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025-26 after seven consecutive years outside the Western Conference field. His combined ability to pick a corner over a goaltender’s shoulder and capitalize on net-front scoring chances helped him shoot at a 15% clip last season, well above the 10% NHL benchmark used as a rough average.
Although Carlsson doesn’t burn defenders with head-turning footspeed, he uses his long stride and slender frame to cover as much ice as any skater in the NHL. He helped the Ducks control scoring chances last season with a positive impact on play-driving analytics. However, his 200-foot game will need improvement, which is characteristic of most young NHL centers with the runway to develop better hockey sense.
Carlsson led Anaheim skaters with 3:27 of average ice time on the power play in 2025-26. While he only scored four goals with the man advantage, his ability as a play-maker helped notorious Philadelphia castoff Cutter Gauthier bury 11 power-play goals in his development into a fear sniper.
Leo CarlssonGamesGoalsAssistsPoints2023-24551217292024-25762025452025-2670293867Per 82-
Game Pace82253358
Joel Quenneville didn’t regularly use Carlsson on the penalty kill in his first season as head coach of the Ducks. However, the third-year star scored two shorthanded goals in 61 minutes of total ice time.
The Flyers have stockpiled an impressive crop of talent during the organization’s long-term rebuild. However, their top skill players Porter Martone and Matvei Michkov both play the wing. The depth of their roster can successfully fill out the middle of an NHL lineup, but they’re missing the the top-end center that most Stanley Cup-winning franchises build their teams around.
If Danny Briere ultimately pries Leo Carlsson away from general manager Pat Verbeek and the Ducks, the Flyers expect to plug a first-line center for five seasons as a foundational piece during a potential rise into Stanley Cup contention.