Ducks' Leo Carlsson gives wild comment about team waiving Chris Kreider

First things first here: Nobody should be mad at Carlsson. The Flyers offered him a massive contract to try and lure him to Philadelphia, and he would have been crazy not to take it. Is he an $18 million per year player? No. Is he one of the five-best players in the league, which is where his current contract places him? Also no. 

But he's still really good, and is going to be a major cornerstone piece for the Ducks for years. He is their best player and is likely to only get better. It will almost certainly still be worth it for them long-term. 

It still had a major impact on the NHL. 

Shortly after that deal, San Jose Sharks forward Macklin Celebrini signed a deal that just barely exceeded Carlsson's on a per-year basis ($18.8 million). Then Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar signed for $20 million per year to become the new highest-paid player in the league. More specifically for the Ducks, they had to pay defenseman Pavel Mintyukov $7 million per year out of fear that somebody else would offer sheet him in restricted free agency, while Carlsson's deal almost certainly raised the price tag for Gauthier, who remains unsigned. 

It is worth asking if any of those contracts reach that level without Carlsson's deal happening the way it did, and for the price it did. 

Prior to waiving Kreider, the Ducks did not have enough salary cap space to fit in Gauthier's deal. 

All of that extra money has also limited their ability to make any additional moves and improve the team's defense, which was a major concern coming into the season. 

Carlsson also told Sportsnet's Sean Reynolds on Wednesday that while he knew his contract was a big deal for the league, he didn't really give much thought to the sort of impact it would have on the Ducks. 

There is, again, nothing wrong with anything Carlsson did here. A lot of NHL players like to talk about "leaving money on the table" for the good of the team, but it's never actually a lot even when they do it. Their teams usually end up wasting those savings anyway on inferior players. He was offered a life-changing amount of money and took it. Nobody should blame him for that. It's just kind of funny to hear a player reference a former teammate who had to be waived as still being "really happy for them," when they were indirectly the reason for the change.