Leo Carlsson, the star center for the Anaheim Ducks who was prominently featured in our 2024 article “The Lore of Lord Stanley’s Cup”, has just become the highest paid player in the National Hockey League after signing a five-year, $90 million dollar contract paying him $18 million dollars a year. This salary eclipses the $17 million per year paid to Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov, who was previously the league’s highest paid player. 

Carlsson, age 22 with three NHL seasons under his belt, in 70 games in 2025-26 scored 29 goals and 38 assists for 67 points. He also scored four goals and seven assists in 12 playoff games. The native of Sweden was the second player chosen overall in the first round of the 2023 entry draft by the Anaheim Ducks, who signed him to a three-year entry-level contract.

Entering the 2026 off-season as a restricted free agent, the Philadelphia Flyers submitted an offer sheet to Carlsson, offering a five-year, $90 million contract on 3 July 2026, making Carlsson the highest paid player in the NHL with an annual salary of $18 million. On July 9, Anaheim matched that offer sheet, wanting to keep their star center and alternate team captain.

The fact that Carlsson was highly touted as a top pick prior to the 2023 NHL draft meant that his stuttering did not go unnoticed. The prominent Canadian sports blog Dose.ca ran the article “Leo Carlsson: The CH is the only team he’s talked to about his stuttering” which described that the Montreal Canadiens, a team which had hoped to draft Carlsson, inquired about his stutter because he would have to face the media in both French and English in the hockey-crazed bilingual city. Carlsson communicated with the Canadiens about his stuttering and added that he had taken French lessons in the past and was in awe of the Canadiens hockey tradition. Of course, the Montreal Canadiens missed out on drafting Carlsson.

The Athletic ran an article in The New York Times on April 25, 2023, titled “Meet Leo Carlsson, No. 2 Draft Pick by the Ducks, Whose Stutter Is Just a ‘Part of Me’”.  When he scored his first career NHL hat trick on November 10, 2023, he gave an interview, which is available on YouTube.

When Carlsson was selected as the No. 2 pick overall in the NHL draft by Anaheim, former Stuttering Foundation spokesperson Bill Walton, who had been the number one pick in the NBA draft nearly 50 years previously, found out that Carlsson struggled with stuttering and did not receive any previous media training in Sweden. Walton, who always was selfless in helping people who stutter, immediately reached out to Carlsson and offered to mentor him as he started his odyssey in the pro sports world. The pair initially had great early communications, but unfortunately Walton’s intended mentorship of Leo Carlsson did not come to fruition due to the basketball legend’s battle with colorectal cancer, from which tragically died in May 2024.

Through his speech therapist in the Los Angeles area, Carlsson has become involved with the National Association of Young People Who Stutter (FRIENDS). He has met up after games with young people who stutter. On March 11, 2025, he gave 100 complimentary tickets to members of the stuttering community for a game against the Washington Capitals that was a celebration of an evening in which the team gave away a bobblehead in his image to all spectators in attendance at the game. 

It is a heartwarming and prideful achievement for the stuttering community to have the highest paid player in the National Hockey League be a person who stutters. We wish Leo Carlsson and the Anaheim Ducks a highly successful 2026-2027 season. There seems a likelihood that the name Leo Carlsson will soon be among the NHL players who stutter whose name will be engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Posted July 24, 2026