The Philadelphia Flyers were already aiming high before they ever got to the Leo Carlsson offer sheet.
According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, the Flyers had their sights on Kirill Kaprizov first, and they were prepared to make a serious run at the Minnesota Wild winger if he had reached free agency. Friedman said on his latest episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast, "I had heard that if Kaprizov had hit the market this year, Philly was going to drop bags of cash on his house," Friedman said in his latest episode of the " 32 Thoughts" podcast.
"Minnesota knew that. Minnesota knew, one of the reasons they did that was that they knew Philly would if they didn't."
That pursuit never got off the ground because Kaprizov instead signed an eight-year, $136 million extension with the Wild on Sept. 25, carrying a $17 million AAV.
The Flyers had been frustrated after the 2025-26 season and the Stanley Cup playoff run when more of the top names in the 2026 free-agent class never actually made it to market. Artemi Panarin, Jack Eichel, and Kaprizov were among the players who might have been available, but all three stayed put with their teams. That left Philadelphia to pivot, and the club ultimately moved on Carlsson.
The Kaprizov angle made sense on multiple levels. He’s a four-time 40-goal scorer and has already posted a 108-point season. He’s also a winger, while Carlsson is a natural center, so the Flyers were clearly looking at different ways to land elite talent.
There was also a direct organizational link. Assistant general manager Brent Flahr drafted Kaprizov to the Wild in 2015, and he now runs the Flyers’ drafts. That fifth-round pick remains Flahr’s biggest calling card at the NHL level.
What all of this adds up to is a front office that has been willing to swing big. Danny Briere and the Flyers were already hunting for a major name before the playoffs, and the Carlsson offer sheet shows they’ve doubled down on the idea that they can land and develop difference-makers. Philadelphia appears convinced Carlsson can grow into a 100-point player, especially with Matvei Michkov and Porter Martone on the wings.
And if the Flyers miss on Carlsson, they don’t sound like a team ready to stop chasing.
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There are still four days left for Anaheim to decide whether to match, which keeps the Flyers in limbo while the Ducks sort through their own business. Jamie Drysdale and Trevor Zegras have already filed for arbitration, adding another layer of offseason pressure for Anaheim, and for the Flyers the whole situation remains tied to a franchise-defining outcome that could shape how aggressively they can keep pushing this summer. [Read more 🡒]
Matvei Michkov Looks Determined To Change The Flyers Conversation
Matvei Michkovs second season in Philadelphia was a reminder that even elite talent can get knocked off course when health and preparation are disrupted. An injury limited the way he could train last summer, and the result was a tougher year than the Flyers expected from a player who arrived with so much offensive promise.
This offseason, Michkov has gone back to work in Perm, Russia, leaning into weightlifting and on-ice sessions as he tries to reset for the year ahead. He is also slated to take part in the NHL-KHL Match of the Year charity game, another sign that he is staying active and pushing toward a cleaner, more complete preparation for the next Flyers season. [Read more 🡒]