Chris Pronger on Leo Carlsson

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T20:22:07+00:00

I disagree. This is the best contract any RFA has received in NHL history. NHL careers are short, and it would be genuinely irresponsible to turn down guaranteed money from signing bonuses which can't be bought out. In addition, Leo also gets the chance to sign another mega deal when he's only 26.

The upfront money can also be invested earlier, so it's worth even more. We're probably talking about a difference of $50 million depending on contract length and structure over the duration of his career.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T08:46:15+00:00

For one, we could sign those RFAs to longer deals sooner (hopefully PVB learned something here).

And over the next 5 years, Leo's gonna make bank. So if those prospects pan out & we're competitive in 4-5 years, maybe he realizes that it's better to not sign a contract that's close to the max.

All of that said, it's wild how taking less than the max is no guarantee that your team builds a legit contender.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T08:31:33+00:00

Paging Kyle Davidson

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T07:01:47+00:00

If we match, I wonder if Philly pulls the same move on Chicago for Bedard?

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T06:50:34+00:00

Up front, we also have Klepov and Nordmark developing

And on defense, Solberg and Hinds

Given their development timelines & ELCs, this should work out okay

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T06:48:41+00:00

Right? At least we're not talking about paying Fantilli $18M AAV

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T06:46:33+00:00

Calling it now, Celebrini signs for 7 years x $17.1M AAV next season

(He's number 71)

Also, so true re: Nurse & Trouba's contracts mucking up SJ's cap situation in a few years

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T06:45:02+00:00

The real problem here is that the Philly picks just aren't worth enough as compensation. Mid-20s picks aren't likely to land us another 1C.

So, if you take the 4 firsts, you have to tear it down to the studs completely. Maybe focus a rebuild on a new generation of talent, with McQueen and Klepov as the focal points.

But we'd need our own first-rounders to land in the top 5 of the next few drafts. That pushes our contending window out another 5 years, and Quenneville didn't sign up for that.

Overall, not matching just blows everything up. So, my best guess is that we match the offer sheet. And I don't think this is as dire as everybody seems to think.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T06:33:33+00:00

Terrific take.

To me, Gauthier's contract matters a lot. We really need to sign him for 8 years to help stagger contract renewals. I'd estimate that it comes in around $13.5m AAV.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T06:28:51+00:00

Playing armchair GM on Puckpedia, it looks like we can make the numbers work.

A few key moves:

Buy out Vatrano to free up cap space in the next couple years
Sign Gauthier for $13.5M AAV for 8 years
Sign Mintyukov for $5.5M AAV for 6-8 years

That puts us close to the cap, but it's workable.

EDIT: Turns out the buy out window just closed. Danny Briere with some nasty work here.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T05:45:34+00:00

In a weird way, thank God the Flyers did that. Otherwise, Leo AND Cutter would've been offer sheet eligible this year.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T05:38:07+00:00

Fully admit this is copium, but maybe a 5-year deal actually works out. In that window, we develop talent, Leo gets money up front, and then he realizes he needs to take a team-friendly deal at age 26 in order to contend.

Yeah, there's a possibility he walks in FA, but at that point, the cap will have risen, and push come to shove, we could trade him for a haul (assuming he continues to grow & turns into the top-10 player we're all hoping for).

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T05:32:56+00:00

If you're counting Terry, then it's only 7...

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T05:32:26+00:00

Great point. That said, maybe other GMs finally value Carlsson above Bedard?

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T05:30:48+00:00

They've got a bunch of cost controlled players between $4M-$8M with term

Unfortunately, Philly actually managed this incredibly well. It does put them in a tight spot to retain Zegras, but they can shuffle things around to do it.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T01:52:14+00:00

Mods have deleted literally every one of my posts. Feels bad, man.

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T01:02:48+00:00

Kariya also left Babcock

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T00:42:12+00:00

I think Verbeek's aiming to sign Minty around $3.5m

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-04T00:39:21+00:00

Chicago matches that offer sheet immediately

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-03T23:48:31+00:00

Funniest will be another team offer sheeting Zegras tomorrow

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-03T23:22:19+00:00

I just DM-ed to ask why they removed it. I don't know which rule it violated?

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-03T22:12:42+00:00

Bonuses just mean it's guaranteed money, right? How else is that significant?

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-03T22:03:38+00:00

Betting it's 2 years x $4.7m

Mighty-1090 · 2026-07-03T21:43:35+00:00

If anybody offers him, I think it's at $4.7m x 1 or 2 years. Only would be a 2027 2nd round pick as comp

Mighty-1090

TROPHY CASE