The Philadelphia Flyers tried. They really, genuinely tried. On July 3rd, GM Daniel Briere walked into the room, slapped a five-year, $90 million offer sheet on the table for Leo Carlsson — $18 million per year, the richest contract in NHL history — and said, essentially: come to Philadelphia, young man, we believe in you, and we are prepared to send four first-round picks to Anaheim to prove it.
The Ducks matched it Thursday. Leo Carlsson is an Anaheim Duck through the 2030-31 season, and he is officially the highest-paid player in the history of the National Hockey League.
He is also 21 years old. And fantasy managers need to be paying very close attention.
What Just Happened and Why It Matters
Let’s start with the contract, because the numbers are genuinely staggering. $18 million annually. More than Leon Draisaitl at $14 million. More than Kirill Kaprizov’s new $17 million deal. The richest AAV in league history, locked in through 2031, front-loaded with signing bonuses so heavy that Carlsson called it “an offer that 99 percent of people would sign too.” The Ducks matched without blinking, releasing a statement that said they “firmly believe he will continue his strong growth trajectory and become one of the truly elite centers in the league.”
That is not standard franchise-player contract language. That is a declaration of belief in someone they are convinced is going to be extraordinary. And looking at what Carlsson has done in three NHL seasons at 21 years old, it is hard to argue with their conviction.
He posted 29 goals, 38 assists, and 67 points in 70 games in 2025-26 — a season interrupted by the injury that kept him out of the Olympics — and then went out and added 11 points in 12 playoff games as the Ducks reached the second round for the first time since 2018. He has 141 points in 201 career regular season games. He is the youngest player in Ducks history to score 50 career goals, the youngest to reach 100 career points, and the youngest Swedish-born player in NHL history to reach that same milestone.
Youngest. Swedish. Player. Ever. To reach 100 career points. At 21 years old.
The Fantasy Case for 2026-27
Here is the beautiful simplicity of the Leo Carlsson fantasy argument heading into next season: he is a first-line centre on a Ducks team that is no longer rebuilding, he just put up 67 points in 70 games at 21 years old in a season hampered by injury, and he is about to play a full, healthy campaign as the undisputed face of a franchise with Beckett Sennecke, Cutter Gauthier, and a rising Anaheim offence surrounding him.
The trajectory is the story. He went from 29 points as a rookie in 55 games, to 45 points in 76 games in year two, to 67 points in 70 games in year three — including a playoff run that showed a player stepping fully into his superstar identity when the games matter most. Every season, without exception, the numbers go up. Every season the game slows down a little more for him. Every season the gap between what he is and what the NHL thinks he is narrows further.
An 80 to 90 point season in 2026-27 is not an aggressive projection. It is the natural next step in a progression that has been as linear and inevitable as a Swedish centre with a $90 million contract and a chip on his shoulder tends to be.
The only caveat worth naming is the injury history — he missed time this season and the Olympics — but at 21 years old on a franchise that just committed $90 million to his future, the Ducks will manage his health with the care you would give a priceless piece of art. Which, at $18 million per year, is essentially what he is.
The Bottom Line
The Philadelphia Flyers swung for the fences and missed. The Anaheim Ducks now have the most expensive player in NHL history locked in through 2031. Fantasy managers have a 21-year-old first-line centre trending toward 80-plus points on a rising team available in most leagues at a price that has not yet caught up with the reality of what he is becoming.
Draft him accordingly. Do not apologize for it. In three years you will be explaining to your league-mates why you took him in the first round and they did not.
Leo Carlsson is going to be a superstar. The Flyers figured that out first. The Ducks figured out they could not let him go. Fantasy managers need to figure it out next.
Statistics and contract details sourced from NHL.com, ESPN, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and PuckPedia, July 9, 2026.
— The Add List +