If you were looking for drama this offseason, you've got it. Not one, but two offer sheets! Two days after the Devils offer sheeted Barrett Hayton, the Philadelphia Flyers have unleashed an atomic bomb. Leo Carlsson has signed on the dotted line with the Flyers for five years with an AAV of $18 million. Yes, $18 million per season. That will make Carlsson the highest-paid player in the league. I think the Ducks were prepared for a team to offer sheet Carlsson, but I don't think they were prepared for a team to go THAT high.

The Ducks, who currently have $35 million in cap space, have seven days to match. If they don't, they receive four first-round picks from the Flyers. The Ducks have the cap space to do this, but they also have operated using a lower internal salary cap in the past. On top of that, they also need to sign RFAs Cutter Gauthier, Pavel Mintyukov and Tyson Hinds. Gauthier is particularly notable, as he is a former first-round pick of the Flyers who did not want to play in Philly. Revenge from the Flyers? Carlsson has played three NHL seasons, reaching close to a point per game (67 PTS in 70 GP) in 2025-26. At age 21, he likely has yet to peak and is an important part of Anaheim's future.

In the end, I think the Ducks match the offer. What are the chances of any of the four first-round picks becoming the level of player that Carlsson is or turns out to be? Assuming the Flyers don't finish near the bottom of the standings over the next four years or win the draft lottery, that is certainly not a sure bet. In addition, the picks won't fit the timeline of the Ducks' contention window once development time is factored in.

One note: Gauthier is NOT offer sheet eligible because he is a 10.2(c) RFA, as per PuckPedia. However, Mintyukov is offer-sheet eligible, and he might be next. Negotiations with Gauthier could become complicated too.

From a macro salary cap perspective, it will be interesting to see whether teams treat this as simply an outlier, or if it significantly shifts the landscape for what teams will pay for star players. I expect the latter within a few years. The league's first $20 million player should be on the horizon very soon. On top of that, NHL salaries trail those in other North American professional sports leagues by a wide margin. This offer sheet will also have major implications for salary cap leagues, particularly those that do not increase their cap limit.

For more on how teams can strategize the offer sheet, check out our recent article The Offer Sheet War: Four Strategies to Entice an NHL Team to Part with a Young Talent. Keep in mind that this article was submitted just before the Carlsson offer sheet, so it does not break down Friday's events specifically.

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Jamie Benn is back for one more season in Dallas. The Stars have re-signed their captain to a one-year contract worth $850,000 plus performance bonuses. Benn will be appearing in his 18^th NHL season, all with the Stars.

Benn finished 2025-26 with 36 points in 60 games, which worked out to a 49-point pace over 82 games. Benn will be 37 years old when the season starts, and both his scoring and hit totals have declined. He isn't worth rostering in all leagues at this point like he was when he won the Art Ross Trophy in 2015. However, he may be a worthwhile streaming or waiver-wire option if he lands on one of the Stars' scoring lines due to injuries or line juggling.

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The Leafs have signed 2026 first overall pick Gavin McKenna to a three-year, entry-level contract. Just the natural next step in his hockey journey. His next decision might be what number he will choose if he has agreed for Sergei Bobrovsky to keep #72 with the Leafs. That should serve as a strong hint that he'll play with the big club this season.

Ivar Stenberg, the second overall pick, also signed his entry-level contract on Friday.

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The Penguins have signed Hendrix Lapierre to a two-year, $1.3 million AAV contract. A 2020 first-round pick (22^nd overall), Lapierre was acquired by the Pens from the Capitals about a week ago. He finished 2025-26 with 16 points in 74 games.

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Free agency sometimes goes in waves. Every year, there's the inevitable July 1 tsunami of signings with so many teams having a fear of missing out. Now there's a list of decent free agents: Most are over 30, many are on the downside of their careers, and some (regardless of age) are players that teams have lingering doubts on for various reasons. Once one of these players is signed, others may quickly fall off the board. While we wait, here are a few prominent free agents that are currently left. I will list more tomorrow, provided they are not all signed then.

Anthony Mantha

Of all the remaining unsigned UFAs, Mantha was the only player to crack both 30 goals and 60 points. I'm sure teams are interested in Mantha, but the stalemate is probably term. At age 31, Mantha is likely trying to secure multiple years or as many years as he can. However, his history as a Band-Aid Boy might have teams thinking only short-term – perhaps even one year.

Mantha's selling point is the fact that his 33 goals and 64 points in 2025-26 both represent career highs. Signed to a one-year contract by Pittsburgh last offseason, Mantha came off a season where he appeared in just 13 games because of a torn ACL. The Penguins appeared to be at the start of a rebuild, so they had absolutely nothing to lose by signing Mantha. It's fair to say that both the player and the team far surpassed expectations. The 2024-25 season aside, Mantha may be less of an injury risk now. He played in 81 of 82 games this past season, and he has appeared in at least 67 games in three of the past four seasons.

In terms of projections, I doubt Mantha gets to 30 goals and 60 points again, and that's because games played has to be projected as well. He should be a useful secondary scoring option for a team if he can remain healthy.

Eeli Tolvanen

Tolvanen is an interesting one. Unlike most of the prominent names remaining, he is only 27 years of age. He has taken a bit of an unusual career path, debuting in the NHL less than a year after being drafted 30^th overall by Nashville. A few years later, he was claimed off waivers by Seattle.

Tolvanen could benefit in the right system. He is already a banger averaging more than 200 hits per season over the past three seasons while he doesn't sacrifice much in scoring. As Dobber pointed out, Seattle killed his scoring upside with a 38.1 OZ% in 2025-26. Seattle is simply one of those teams that you don't look forward to a player joining.

As well, Tolvanen earned 14 power-play points last season despite receiving only 41.6% of the team's available power-play minutes. Only three Kraken had more power-play points, and all were consistent PP1 options. At this point of free agency, Tolvanen might be more of a bottom-6 option, but he has tremendous potential value if he sneaks onto the top 6 and a team's top power play.

Claude Giroux

One of the hockey insiders reported that Giroux will be signing with the Flyers. That hasn't happened yet, and perhaps the Flyers are focused on whether they will land the most expensive duck first.

Giroux is now 38, but he has been the picture of health, having missed just one game over the past four seasons combined. His scoring has declined to a 50-point pace over the past two seasons in Ottawa, and that probably won't change much regardless of the team. One benefit of adding Giroux: he still produces on the power play. The last time Giroux did not reach double-digit power-play points was back in 2009-10. He averaged 18 PPP over his four seasons in Ottawa while only reaching above 50% power-play time in one of those four seasons.

Giroux is no longer the top-drawer scorer that he was in Philly, but he still has something to offer real-life teams. He's probably a streaming or waiver-wire option next season, though.

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Happy Fourth of July to our American readers! Follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social