The contractThe Philadelphia Flyers tendered an offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks restricted free agent forward Leo Carlsson for five years at an average annual value of $18 million.The drama of this year’s NHL offseason has reached an entirely new level. You’d have to go all the way back to 2012, when the Flyers inked Shea Weber to a 14-year, $110 million deal, which the Nashville Predators matched, to find the last offer sheet as bold and aggressive as this one. (Sebastian Aho’s offer sheet from Montreal in 2019 was for less than half the money.)Carlsson is already a No. 1 center at 21 after a breakout season in which he recorded 67 points in 70 games, in addition to an impressive playoff. He’s an elite, buttery smooth playmaker, boasts a 6-foot-3, 208-pound frame, and has added a wicked shot and finishing ability to his offensive arsenal. Carlsson’s skating has also improved massively since his draft year, giving him a rare, tantalizing blend of power, speed and finesse. There’s no question he has the potential to become a franchise player when you combine all of those traits with his two-way intelligence and puck thievery on the defensive side.Leo Carlsson finishes off the 2-on-1 chance However, it’s also true that an $18 million AAV is a huge overpayment, even in this rising cap world. Carlsson will become the highest-paid player in the NHL next season, eclipsing Kirill Kaprizov’s $17 million AAV. There’s a $4 million per year difference between Carlsson and the No. 3 highest cap hit for 2026-27, which belongs to Leon Draisaitl. $18 million is what teams should be paying Hart Trophy-caliber forwards or Norris-caliber defensemen in the coming years.As exciting as Carlsson’s ceiling is, he’s likely to fall well short of that bar — colleague Dom Luszczyszyn’s model projects Carlsson’s value at $12.8 million annually over the next five years.