PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Leo Carlsson came within one financial decision of becoming a Philadelphia Flyer last summer. On Saturday, the Anaheim center found a way to beat the team that tried to pry him away from the Ducks.
Carlsson scored and assisted on the game-winner as the Ducks snapped a five-game losing streak with a 5-4 win over Philadelphia.
“Attention was on some other guys, so I didn't really feel anything different about it, to be honest,” Carlsson said. “I was never really here, so it wasn't anything different.”
The Flyers could use Carlsson's production. After his two-point game, he now leads the Ducks in scoring with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists). His goal was set up by Cutter Gauthier, the player he was referencing, who the fans were paying attention to, as their vitriolic chants still target Gauthier after forcing a trade from the Flyers in January 2024.
The Flyers and Ducks have been linked multiple times in the past two years. After acquiring Jamie Drysdale for Gauthier, the Flyers also acquired Trevor Zegras from Anaheim.
But the Flyers turned the NHL on it's ear when they tendered the 21-year-old Carlsson to a five-year, $90 million offer sheet on July 3. Its $18 million average annual value was the richest in NHL history at the time. Anaheim matched it six days later, a day before the deadline, keeping Carlsson through the 2030-31 season. Philadelphia kept the four first-round picks it would have owed as compensation.
“Did we expect the offer sheet to be this high? No. We did not see that one coming,” Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said at the time. “But we’re very confident, with the cap going up and the ability of Leo to make strides of improvement and become an elite player, we feel confident this contract will be a good one in the end.”
Carlsson said then that he couldn’t turn the offer down but hoped Anaheim would keep him.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 draft, Carlsson has improved every season. He had 29 points as a rookie and 45 in 2024-25 before setting career highs with 29 goals, 38 assists and 67 points in 70 games last season. He added 11 points in 12 playoff games.
He entered Saturday with a team-high 11 points on two goals and nine assists in 10 games, with seven of those points on the power play. He assisted on a power play goal by Beckett Sennecke against Philadelphia.
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Anaheim Ducks' Beckett Sennecke, center, celebrates his goal with Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier (61) during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
Miami had no problem passing its first test as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25, and No. 18 LSU, No. 23 SMU and No. 24 Northwestern also cruised to easy wins in the early window of games Saturday.
No. 6 Indiana overcame a balky offense to beat Michigan in overtime, and the number of unbeaten teams dropped to four with No. 8 Texas Tech losing at Cincinnati.
The No. 1 team in the AP poll had lost the previous two weeks. Miami was never threatened against Pittsburgh, scoring on seven of its first eight possessions in a 52-23 win.
The Hurricanes' Darian Mensah threw for 387 yards and four touchdowns, with three of them going to Malachi Toney, who finished with 16 catches for 194 yards. Toney had 159 receiving yards in the first half, matching Pitt's total yardage through two quarters.
Sam Leavitt threw for 387 yards and three TDs in LSU's 38-17 win at Auburn, which was coming off its upset at Georgia last week. SMU scored touchdowns on its first six possessions of the second half while wiping out a 20-17 halftime deficit and routing California 59-20. Aidan Chiles threw for three touchdowns for the third time this season and rushed for two scores to lead Northwestern past Rutgers 42-14.
Indiana struggled mightily on offense against Michigan in its 13-6 overtime road win. The Hoosiers generated 212 yards, the second-fewest in Curt Cignetti's three seasons, and Josh Hoover was just 8-of-18 passing for 81 yards.
Cincinnati's 37-24 win over Texas Tech was the Bearcats' first victory over a top-10 opponent in five years. The Red Raiders had trouble controlling running back Cole Tabb, who ran 16 times for a career-high 173 yards. His 58-yard burst for a touchdown put the Bearcats up by 19 points with 6 minutes left.
-- No. 2 BYU, which has its highest ranking since its 1984 championship season, was favored by just 6 1/2 points at UCF.
-- No. 11 Tennessee, which had its only blemish in a three-point loss at Texas, was a 2 1/2-point underdog at South Carolina, which improved to 3-3 after its big win at Florida.
— No. 13 Alabama (5-2) hosted Texas A&M (4-3) without much margin for error as Kalen DeBoer's crew tried to end a two-game skid against a puzzling but talented Aggies team.
— No. 15 Iowa (5-1) climbed steadily from its preseason No. 22 ranking to No. 14 before it got handled by Ohio State. After an easy win at Washington and a bye week, the Hawkeyes were back in the middle of the pack just in time for a trip to Minnesota (4-2) for the Floyd of Rosedale rivalry game. The Gophers would love to win the pig trophy for just the third time since 2014 and deal a blow to Iowa's chances at a Big Ten title and CFP appearance.
No. 7 Mississippi (5-1, 3-1 SEC), led by star quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, is a 3 1/2-point underdog for its primetime visit to No. 19 Texas (4-2, 1-2), which has lost two straight.
The point spread probably has something to do with the fact that Texas has the nation's 11th-ranked defense, but it will be put to the test by Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy and receiver Deuce Alexander, who have accounted for a combined 2,725 yards this season. The Ole Miss defense also just held the conference’s leading rusher, Missouri’s Jamal Roberts, to just 39 yards last week.
That's not great news for a Texas offense with a scuffling ground game and questions about whether Arch Manning would even start against Grandpa Archie and Uncle Eli’s alma mater.
The late show is Houston (6-1, 3-1 Big 12) at No. 10 Utah (6-0, 3-0), with the Utes as 6 1/2-point favorites in the Big 12’s showcase game this week.
Utah is coming off a three-point win at Colorado and none of its opponents so far this season is better than .500.
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Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover (10) scores a touchdown during overtime in an NCAA college football game against Michigan, Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Lon Horwedel)
