Ducks Match Five-Year Offer Sheet for Carlsson

The Ducks have matched a five-year offer sheet extended by the Philadelphia Flyers to center Leo Carlsson. Carlsson’s five-year contract worth an average annual value (AAV) of $18 million will begin in the 2026-27 NHL season and run through the 2030-31 campaign.

“Matching the offer sheet was an easy decision, as Pat has intelligently left enough cap space to give us the ability to retain Leo,” said Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli. “We have extremely high expectations for Leo. We firmly believe he will continue his strong growth trajectory and become one of the truly elite centers in the league, while continuing to make a strong impact in our community.”

Carlsson, 21 (12/26/04), scored 29-38=67 points with a +4 rating in 70 games with Anaheim in 2025-26. He set new single-season career bests in points, goals and assists while he led the Ducks in points per game (.96), was second in points, goals, power-play points (4-14=18) and tied for second in assists. His 29 goals were the second-most goals in a single season by a Ducks player 21 or younger while he became one of three Ducks skaters all-time to post multiple 20-goal season before age 22.

“We are very happy to have Leo under contract for five years,” said Ducks General Manager Pat Verbeek. “We have viewed Leo as a franchise player since the moment we met him prior to the 2023 draft. He’s a character person on and off the ice. Leo is viewed as a top player in this league, and it was always our intention to match any offer sheet.”

The 6-3, 208-pound center scored 4-7=11 points with a +1 rating in 12 Stanley Cup Playoffs contests to lead all NHL players 21 and younger in postseason points and assists. Carlsson co-led the Ducks in game-winning goals (2) during the postseason, while he ranked tied for second among team leaders in points and was tied for third in goals.

Selected by Anaheim in the first round (second overall) of the 2023 NHL Draft, Carlsson has appeared in 201 career NHL regular-season games with the Ducks, earning 61-80=141 points. He is the youngest player in Ducks history to score 50 career goals after debuting with the franchise and also the youngest to reach 100 career points. He is also the youngest-ever Swedish-born NHL player to reach 100 career points.

Carlsson scored 20-25=45 points in 76 games in the 2024-25 season, third among Ducks leaders in points. With 20 goals, he was the first player in Ducks history to reach the milestone at 20 years old or younger. In 2023-24 as a rookie, he recorded 12-17=29 points in 55 games, tied for the most goals by a teenager in Ducks history.

The Karlstad, Sweden native was named to Sweden’s Olympic Winter Games Milano-Cortina 2026 roster but did not appear at the tournament due to injury. He has represented his country at the 2025 NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, two World Championships (2023 and 2025), 2023 World Junior Championship, 2022 U-18 World Championship and 2021 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He helped Sweden to a bronze medal at the 2025 World Championship, scoring 4-6=10 points in 10 tournament games.

Carlsson was named the Swedish Junior Hockey Player of the Year in 2022-23, recording the most points and assists by a junior player in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) with Orebro, recording 10-15=25 points in 44 games as an 18-year-old. He registered 13-21=34 points in 79 career SHL games with Orebro in two seasons (2021-23).