The biggest move in Anaheim wasn’t made by a rival - it was the Ducks refusing to blink.
Philadelphia put a five-year, $90 million offer sheet on restricted free-agent center Leo Carlsson, but Anaheim matched it before Friday’s deadline and kept its young franchise center in place. The deal carries a league-record $18 million average annual value, includes signing bonuses, and features a no-movement clause in the final year. By matching, the Ducks hold onto Carlsson long term and keep the draft compensation from heading to Philadelphia.
In Edmonton, the Frederik Andersen signing is being framed as the kind of move that doesn’t grab headlines for the wrong reasons. The Athletic’s Harman Dayal described it as smart, low-risk business: a veteran goalie with championship playoff experience coming in at a relatively modest cost.
Andersen is 36, has had inconsistency issues, and can be injury-prone, so nobody is pretending he solves everything. Dayal also pointed to a rough regular season with a .874 save percentage.
Even so, the Oilers appear to be buying insurance more than certainty, with the expectation that Andersen can give them about 25-40 solid games while adding depth behind their existing goalie plans.
Toronto’s front office, meanwhile, is still in motion after a major departure. Hayley Wickenheiser is out after eight years with the Maple Leafs, where she climbed from Assistant Director of Player Development to Director of Player Development and then to Assistant General Manager, a role she held until 2026. She announced her exit on Instagram, saying she had hoped to keep making a real impact, but the team decided her role would no longer allow that going forward.
Her departure was part of a broader shakeup. The same day, the Maple Leafs also moved on from director of amateur scouting Mark Leach and senior advisor of player personnel Dave Morrison. The changes come after earlier departures such as Brandon Pridham, with John Chayka and Mats Sundin’s changes continuing behind the scenes.
In Other News...
Ducks May Be Headed For Another Costly Frank Vatrano Dilemma
The Ducks are again trying to navigate one of the trickier parts of roster building: finding a home for Frank Vatranos contract without turning the deal into a bigger problem than the one they started with. His contract structure has made him a name to watch in trade chatter, and Anaheim has at least checked in on the market while other clubs around the league continue to weigh cap space, draft assets and roster needs.
Vancouver has come up in the conversation, but the broader picture is the same one that has followed several Ducks trade discussions lately. Moving money in todays NHL often means attaching value to make the math work, and Anaheim may have to decide how much it is willing to include if it wants to clear the deck. Around the league, the same calculus is shaping rumors involving Trevor Zegras, Jamie Drysdale and Jason Robertson, with teams all looking for the right blend of fit, flexibility and future picks. [Read more 🡒]
Pat Verbeek May Have Backed The Ducks Into A Brutal Corner
The Ducks had to match an offer sheet to keep Leo Carlsson in Anaheim, a move that says as much about the market as it does about their own planning. What should have been a straightforward extension for a cornerstone young center turned into another reminder of how quickly leverage can shift when negotiations linger and the price of waiting keeps climbing.
For Pat Verbeek, the problem is bigger than one contract. Anaheim still has other young players due for new deals, and the clubs cap room is already under pressure after a series of delays and a defense that looks thinner than it should for a team trying to climb back into relevance. The Ducks can survive one expensive correction, but the next round of negotiations may be where the real squeeze begins. [Read more 🡒]