Jason Robertson said no to a big offer, but Leo Carlsson said yes:
Ducks — who have told everyone they will match any Carlsson offer sheet — have seven days to do so.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 3, 2026
If they don’t, they would receive four first-round picks. https://t.co/aT5Gwtj22P
Carlsson offer sheet with #LetsGoFlyers breakdown:
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) July 3, 2026
Yr 1: $850K Salary, $19.95M Signing Bonus
Yr 2: $900K/$18.1M
Yr 3: $950K/$17.05M
Yr 4: $1M/$15.2M
Yr 5: $1M/$15M
NMC in Yr 5
Signing Bonus per @reporterchris
Rep’d by Matt Keatorhttps://t.co/dXmNTJXiYu
Leo Carlsson is now the highest paid player in the NHL by AAV. The entire contract is league minimum each year with the rest of the salary in signing bonus, and as shown above, front loaded to the maximum allowed.
There are hints and "rumblings" that Ducks defender Pavel Mintyukov has also signed an offer sheet. And Jeff Marek promoted this intriguing idea:
I believe Steve is 100% correct that teams are thinking this way. https://t.co/AFpjPdasm5
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) July 3, 2026
In other news, if you missed it, the Leafs signed a drafted guy. Um. Gavin something or other?
They also started working on the Marlies. I particularly like the signing of Samuel Hlavaj, because he is waiver exempt.
We get too attached to prospects and don't often think about the larger picture. I saw real (wildly misdirected) anger at John Chayka for trading Dennis Hildeby. But what the Leafs did is get something for a non-exempt goalie and replaced him with someone who can stop pucks in the AHL just fine with no waivers drama.
There is no conveyer belt out of the AHL. Not everyone is making the team and the Leafs can't carry three goalies, so this was tidy business.
My advice is to dial back the outrage and negativity and wait a little before you decide on things. You don't need a position statement in the first minute news breaks (I had to quickly change my tune on Hiller once I actually knew anything about him). I sure hope I spend the next couple of years going back and reading the comments on the Bobrovsky post for the laughs. He might be excellent.
I thought this was a very interesting fact:
Not since the 2019-20 NHL season has a #Leafs goaltender logged 50 or more games in 1 season (Frederik Andersen 52).
— David Alter (@davidalter) July 3, 2026
Meanwhile, Sergei Bobrovsky has played in at least 50 games in each of the last 5 seasons.
Forget the debate of where he his among all-time goalie greats, but…
Sunday at 5 pm is the deadline for eligible players to elect arbitration. The Leafs have one key RFA who could elect arb, and that's Emil Andrae. Ryan Tverberg and Jacob Quillan are also eligible. Teams get a 24-hour period starting after the player deadline if they want to elect arbitration.
I don't think the Leafs are done, and not just because the handful of AHL signings is likely not enough. They are currently sitting at 43 SPCs not counting Ben Danford and Tinus Luc Koblar as they both could be exempt. I expect Danford to not return to junior, so effectively that's 44 with three RFAs to sign bringing it to 47. That leaves some room for more players even before some are removed.
I also really do believe the plan is to trade Morgan Rielly, and they will likely succeed.
As for the rest of the players who wanted to be traded, and haven't changed their minds like someone I could name (is he getting booed in SBA?), that's been whittled down to Connor Hellebuyck and Dylan Larkin who are stationary for now.
There are teams out there with a lot of cap space: Philadelphia or Anaheim depending on the outcome of the offer sheet drama likely lead the way for now. Chicago has a lot, Pittsburgh, Calgary, Columbus and Detroit. A lot of big RFA deals are to come, but there are not a lot of UFAs left to sign.
The defensive options are really light, and I'd say sure, sign Mike Reilly as a number 8 guy, but there's nothing much else. The forward options are Anthony Mantha, Patrick Kane and well. Michael Bunting. He seems to have been cured of his big penalty minutes problems and he still can play. And if you really want a left field choice, Patrik Laine needs a job, and he's eligible for one of those bonus-laden contracts that don't count much against the cap until the end of the year.
I actually looked at some of Laine's, Raddysh's and the Leafs power play highlights and came to the conclusion he'd work if William Nylander played the bumper. Raddysh shoots from the blueline and they wouldn't compete for location. It would be funny, but I'm not sure where you put him at five-on-five.
That's the meaningful news for now, and I sure hope the NHL makes big news today when America is having their holiday, since some of us work through ours every year because the NHL just figures that's how it should be. I figure it's how it should be for everyone, so at your desks, Americans!
I hope all our American readers find meaning in today's holiday. All those self-evident truths that need to be tended. I have faith in you.
