NHL offer sheets for Barrett Hayton and Leo Carlsson trigger cap and trade talk
The New Jersey Devils submitted a one‑year, $4.775 million offer sheet for center Barrett Hayton, while the Philadelphia Flyers presented a five‑year, $18 million‑per‑year offer sheet for Anaheim Ducks forward Leo Carlsson.
The Utah Mammoth must decide on Hayton’s offer by Wednesday, and the Ducks have until Friday to respond to the Flyers’ proposal. Analyst Andy Strickland tweeted, “We can expect Utah to match New Jersey’s offer for Barrett Hayton,” and added that “most people would be surprised if Anaheim didn’t match” the Carlsson offer.
Anaheim faces a tight salary‑cap situation after recent contracts totaling $16 million for three players and existing deals for Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund and Frank Vatrano. Matching Carlsson’s contract would leave the Ducks with under $10 million in cap space, prompting speculation that the New Jersey Devils could facilitate a trade to help Anaheim shed contracts.
Since 2008 only three hostile offer sheets have gone unmatched, highlighting the rarity of such moves in the NHL.