BREAKING: Ducks Match Leo Carlsson's Offer Sheet

It was only a matter of time, and the Ducks used every last second they had. On Thursday, the Ducks announced that they had matched the Philadelphia Flyers' five-year, $90 million offer sheet to forward Leo Carlsson. If they had decided not to match, they would have received four first-round picks.

Carlsson, 21, was a pending RFA and coming off a 67-point season in his third NHL season. This move locks down the Ducks' No. 1 center for the next five years. It also adds an $18 million-sized cap hit to their 2026-27 salary cap. Per PuckPedia, the Ducks have a little over $9 million in cap space. Cutter Gauthier, who scored 41 goals last season, is still a pending RFA and will surely be looking for an AAV in that range--or higher.