The Philadelphia Flyers' signing of Leo Carlsson to a lucrative five-year offer sheet will make it difficult for the Anaheim Ducks to re-sign Cutter Gauthier. It could also affect other NHL teams' efforts to re-sign their RFAs.
On Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers signed Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson to a five-year offer sheet with an average annual value of $18 million.
The Ducks have seven days from the date Carlsson signed the offer to match it. Otherwise, they'll receive four first-round picks from the Flyers as compensation starting in 2027.
Regardless of whether Carlsson remains a Duck or joins the Flyers, he is now the NHL's highest-paid player in terms of average annual value.
If the Ducks match the offer, it'll take up a significant chunk of their salary-cap space. After re-signing defenseman Pavel Mintyukov on Sunday, PuckPedia indicates they will have $9.93 million in cap space if Carlsson remains on their roster.
That won't leave much to re-sign left winger Cutter Gauthier. Like Carlsson and Mintyukov, the 22-year-old is coming off his entry-level contract and lacks arbitration rights.
Gauthier is ineligible to receive an offer sheet from a rival club, which still provides Ducks management with leverage in their contract negotiations. Nevertheless, he could still seek a substantial raise of over $10 million annually after seeing what Carlsson is getting.
Gauthier had a team-leading 41 goals and 69 points, giving him reasonable justification to seek a big bump in his pay.
Eric Stephens of The Athletic believes the Ducks have no choice but to match the offer sheet.
He acknowledged it would pay Carlsson far more than he's currently worth and that it would affect their salary-cap outlook and their efforts to re-sign Gauthier.
However, the alternative would leave the Ducks without a first-line center for the foreseeable future, a significant setback for their rising young roster. Stephens also noted the value of those compensatory draft picks would likely end up in the bottom half of the first round if the Flyers improve.
Meanwhile, the Carlsson offer sheet will set the market for this summer's top NHL RFAs.
Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times believes the Blackhawks might have hoped to get center Connor Bedard signed to an average annual value between $13 million and $16 million before Friday. Now, it could cost them over $18 million annually to sign the 20-year-old budding superstar.
Pope doubted that Bedard would sign an offer sheet, citing the young center's relationship with GM Kyle Davidson, his desire to remain with the Blackhawks for the long term and his disdain for drama.
The price of re-signing Adam Fantilli has likely gone up for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Meanwhile, Sam Carchidi of The Hockey News wondered if the 21-year-old Blue Jackets center could become the Flyers' "Plan B" if the Ducks match the Carlsson offer sheet.
Fantilli might not be interested in an offer sheet, or perhaps he hasn't received one yet. Nevertheless, it would be in the Blue Jackets' best interest to find out and act quickly and accordingly, especially with the questions swirling about the futures of Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko.
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