Morning Chirps: Offer sheet madness, Maple Leafs sign top pick

Some of us have been waiting for NHL general managers to start using offer sheets to their advantage, myself included, and boy, did we get that on Friday! Before heading out to enjoy some fireworks, get caught up with today’s Morning Chirps.

Offer Sheet Chirps

• The Philadelphia Flyers turned the NHL on its ear on Thursday by weaponizing the offer sheet. They tendered Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson a five-year contract with a $18 million AAV, which would make him the highest-paid player in the league. The Ducks have seven days to match the offer; if they don’t, the Flyers will send over four first-round draft picks as compensation.

• This move will reset the market and could cause chaos across the league. Give NHL general managers some extra salary cap space, and they lose their minds. Darren Dreger reported that four teams presented offer sheets to Carlsson, and he chose the Flyers' insanely high pitch. Chris Johnston added that he’s heard rumblings that this won’t be the only offer sheet coming.

• That, of course, got Blackhawks fans worried that Connor Bedard might be hit with an offer sheet. Both John Bloomer and Nestor Quixtan covered this topic on the site last night. One thing you have to remember is that a player has to sign an offer sheet. I honestly don’t think Bedard would. Now, this number could affect what his agent is looking for, but I don’t see Bedard signing any sheet presented to him. There has been some bad blood between the Flyers and Ducks, and this just adds to it. Plus, Verbeek is known to be a shrewd negotiator who lowballs his players. That had to be a big factor in Carlsson saying yes to the Flyers, knowing he’d never get close to this number in Anaheim. Kyle Davidson doesn’t have the reputation.

• Verbeek’s offseason is shaping up to be a disaster as there have been various reports that defenseman Pavel Mintyukov has been approached with multiple offer sheets. This is a smart move because if the Ducks shell out $18 million to keep Carlsson, the chances of letting Mintyukov walk increase. The Ducks have already lost defensemen Radko Gudas, John Carlson, and Jacob Trouba this summer. What a serious misstep for a team that just returned to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Blackhawks Chirps

• Speaking of Bedard, we are still in a holding pattern regarding his injury suffered on Wednesday. According to The Athletic, there aren’t any “definitive updates" on his condition from the team, and we won’t get any kind of official word until at least Monday.

• The Blackhawks wrapped up their development camp on Friday with some 3-on-3 action. Here are some of the best clips from BlackhawksFocus, who had some great coverage all week long. Be sure you’re following him.

• Blackhawks Birthday Roll Call, July 4: Vic Desjardins, Wilf Cude, Pat Stapleton, and Jason Dickinson.

NHL Chirps

• The Dallas Stars re-signed captain Jamie Benn to a one-year contract extension. According to PuckPedia, it comes with an $850,000 base salary and $1.15 million in potential performance bonuses.

• It’s been a strange offseason for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Zach Werensku and Kirill Marchenko have been involved in trade rumors, and now one of their centers will miss the start of the season. Isac Lundestrom injured his Achilles while training in Sweden. There is no timeline yet for a return. The best-case scenario is that he returns in November. The flip side of that coin is that he misses the entire 2026-27 season.

• The Utah Mammoth made a big acquisition earlier this week, acquiring Vincent Trochek, which cost them defenseman Sean Durzi. They found his replacement by signing Andrew Peeke to a one-year, $1 million contract.

• A day after second-overall pick Ivar Stenberg signed his entry-level contract, the Toronto Maple Leafs put pen to paper with the draft’s top pick, Gavin McKenna.

• Former Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi signed a one-year AHL contract extension with the Syracuse Crunch, the affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Another former Blackhawk, forward Tomas Jurco, signed with his hometown team, HC Kosice of the Slovak Extraliga.

• NHL Birthday Roll Call, July 4: Juha Widing, Kevin McClelland, Steve Rucchin, Mike Knuble, Keith Kinkaid, Jake Gardiner, and Artturi Lehkonen.

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