FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Three weeks later, Frank Vatrano was still beaming about the decision by the Anaheim Ducks to match the offer sheet Leo Carlsson signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Vatrano, taking part in the fourth annual edition of the Shoulder Check Showcase at Sacred Heart University, admitted on Thursday to some nervous moments during the time when Carlsson was tendered the five-year, $90 million offer sheet ($18 million average annual value).
The veteran Ducks forward admits he couldn’t imagine the on-the-rise Ducks without their 21-year-old star-in-waiting occupying the middle of the ice.
“I think for him to come in this year completely healthy and experiencing that play in the playoffs at the highest level, it will only help him,” Vatrano said. “Obviously, when you get that kind of contract, you're going to be playing with confidence.
“You always play with confidence, but for him, it’s another step. He wants to be that guy. You can see he's a great kid.
Yeah, I could definitely see him taking a huge, huge step this season.”
Carlsson was named to Team Sweden for the 2026 Winter Olympics but missed the tournament because of injury. Yet, Vatrano says that honor, as well as Carlsson’s selection to play for Sweden at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off turbocharged the player’s confidence.
“He was around all those guys and, you know, that's a big thing in anybody's career, but especially that young,” Vatrano said. “I mean, I even noticed it, but I think even at the (4 Nations), I think you noticed a completely different player when he came back.
“Just him going there and being around all those guys. He took that huge step and even after the Olympics this year, I know he would have loved to be there. He’s the player that we all thought he was going to be.”
Carlsson was second on the team during the regular season with 67 points (29 goals, 38 assists) in 70 games, behind forward Cutter Gauthier (69 points), and tied with forward Troy Terry for second during the postseason with 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 12 games.
Last season was the first time a Ducks team reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2018.
Carlsson is Anaheim's No. 1 center, offensively adept with top-end speed, who plays a 200-foot game that coach Joel Quenneville can feel comfortable matching against the opposition's top lines.
“I think that if you've watched our games the last couple years, I think Leo's first two years, we weren't, we weren't the best team, so he wasn't getting the numbers that maybe were warranted and what he deserved,” said Ducks forward Sam Colangelo, who was also at the Shoulder Check event. “This year, the start of the year, he was leading the League in points or top-three, and faced some injuries and it was kind of tough.
“I think that if people watch our games closely, they know that Leo's a 100-point player and there's no doubt about that. And he's also a different player. If you watch him play, he does it all.
Plays a top-line matchup. He can defend, he wins face-offs, he creates. He's a hell of a player and I'm excited to watch him continue to grow.”
The Ducks are growing with Carlsson, who general manager Pat Verbeek called the “cornerstone piece” of the franchise when he matched the offer sheet on July 9.
The Ducks were 43-33-6 last season and finished third in the Pacific Division, a point behind the Edmonton Oilers, who they defeated in six games in the first round. Carlsson was used in matchups against two of the best forwards in the League in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in that series and more than held his own.
In the next round, Anaheim lost in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights, who were the Western Conference representative in the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games.
There are so many young players around Carlsson in the lineup.
Forward Beckett Sennecke is 20. Gauthier and defenseman Pavel Mintyukov are 22. Colangelo is 24.
Franchise defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who played for the United States at the Olympics, is 25.
“I think we have a lot of young guys who took a lot of big steps this year,” said Colangelo, who was limited to nine games with the Ducks last season, but had 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) in 49 games with San Diego of the American Hockey League. “I'm looking to kind of get back on track and get back to how I played my rookie year.
“And I think that our team's going to continue to get better. I mean, obviously we lost some key pieces, but I think that some young guys are ready to take the next step.”
That means the playoffs are the goal again this season. No one-and-done for these Ducks, says Vatrano.
“Just because we did it one year doesn't mean you're going to be back next year, so for us, it doesn't get much easier,” he said. “No, we're going to have a target knowing that we're a good team. So we're going to get the best from every team every single night.
Every team's going to get better, and we got to get better too.”