With one offer sheet already signed, some are wondering if there will be others coming. Some teams are trying to guard against the possibility, including the Ducks. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Anaheim has told some teams that they will match any offer sheet given to center Leo Carlsson and that they elected to not be overly active in free agency to ensure they have the cap space to do so. The 21-year-old had his best season yet in 2025-26, putting up 29 goals and 38 assists in 70 games, taking big strides toward living up to his second-overall draft slot in 2023. Projected to be an all-around top center, he’s well on his way to doing so and is in line to command a max-term deal with a double-digit AAV. By telling teams he’ll match whatever is offered, GM Pat Verbeek is trying to ensure he’s the person to give Carlsson that contract at his terms. History suggests that this could make talks drag on well into the summer.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- The Flames made a serious pitch to acquire Mason McTavish from Anaheim last week, reports Sportsnet’s Eric Francis (Twitter link). However, they weren’t able to beat the offer from St. Louis of the 15th and 29th overall picks. Calgary had the sixth overall selection and understandably wasn’t willing to put that in the offer but while they had the 30th pick, they weren’t able to put something similar in value to the 15th selection. After parting with multiple picks to add Simon Nemec, the Flames aren’t attempting to escalate their rebuild but rather add some younger players who will be in their primes as they come out of it, something that would have been the case with McTavish.
- Unrestricted free agent forward Georgii Merkulov has received overseas interest but is holding out hope of landing an NHL contract, relays Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 25-year-old has seen action with Boston in each of the last three seasons but that only spans 11 games, where he has one assist. Merkulov has averaged 60 points per season over the last three years in the minors with AHL Providence so he should be able to garner interest on a two-way deal somewhere, especially since he doesn’t count toward veteran status in the AHL just yet.