Much has been made about the Philadelphia Flyers ruining contract negotiations for themselves and the rest of the NHL by giving Leo Carlsson an $18 million cap hit on the offer sheet attempt, but a slew of recent signings prove this talking point just isn't true.

Carlsson, 21, is, at least for now, the highest-paid player in the NHL on a per-year basis, narrowly poking out ahead of Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov and his $17 million annual cap hit.

The difference between the two is that Kaprizov is 29, a winger, and in his prime, while Carlsson is a center whose best is yet to come. Any time an NHL team signs a player in Carlsson's age range, they're paying for potential rather than the here and now. It seems obvious, but that isn't always explicitly outlined.

On Saturday, 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard signed a five-year, $75 million contract extension with the Chicago Blackhawks, giving him a $15 million AAV at the age of 21, similarly to Carlsson.

Yes, the Flyers gave Carlsson $3 million more than that, but we must also consider that the Flyers needed to jack up the price high enough to force the Anaheim Ducks to ponder letting their franchise player go.

Aside from that factor influencing that specific contract, nothing has really changed.

Plenty of other young, up-and-coming players signed contracts for perfectly reasonable cap hits: Pavel Mintyukov got $7.2 million, while Simon Nemec got $7.25 million, each for five years.

The Flyers managed to lock down Jamie Drysdale for a shorter term than those two at just four years, but a cheaper $6.5 million cap hit.

If you want to be the Blackhawks and shell out $12.5 million big ones to Bowen Byram, that's your choice.

Some other deals to consider: Connor McMichael got six years and $6.75 million per, while the Flyers got Zegras at $9.125 million for four.

Egor Chinakhov, fresh off his breakout season, re-upped with Pittsburgh at a $6.25 million cap hit for three years.

Mavrik Bourque, whom the Flyers reportedly attempted to trade for, signed for six years and $5.5 million annually.

Among those forwards, the Flyers probably got the worst deal, as they got shorter term and higher AAV in the negotiation. Had things gone better, the opposite would have been true.

Still, Zegras is getting what is, and soon won't be, top-flight center money.

Zegras's agent, Pat Brisson, signed Jack Eichel to a $13.5 million cap hit extension in October. Jack Hughes, one of Brisson's other talented clients, is still getting just $8 million a year against the cap from a deal he signed in 2021.

Brisson got Elias Pettersson his eight-year, $92.8 million deal ($11.6 million AAV) when he was 25 back in 2024, which is the same age Zegras is now.

The difference is, in a more robust market, Zegras still cost $2 million less than Pettersson, and coming off a career-high 67 points, it's clear both Brisson and the Flyers believe the player has room to grow.

He didn't get that contract because the Flyers tried to gorge Carlsson on money to get him out of Anaheim.

Another way to look at it: one Carlsson is slightly cheaper than two of Zegras; that's a good deal.

So if the NHL and its fans want to blame the Flyers for breaking the league, they may want to take a look in the mirror first.