The Edmonton Oilers and other teams in the Pacific Division should be sending flowers and chocolates to the Philadelphia Flyers front office.

A nice card should read, “Thanks for sending the Anaheim Ducks a poison pill.”

Because that’s exactly what they did in signing Leo Carlsson to a five-year, $18 million AAV offer sheet. It’s thrown a massive wrench into what Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek is trying to do, so much so it forced them into an uncomfortable five-year deal for defenceman Pavel Mintyukov that will cost $7.2 million per year. Threats of an offer sheet for the blue liner forced his hand.

As my colleague Michael Menzies pointed out in his Sunday Scramble, Verbeek has become notorious for grinding his restricted free agents to a pulp, trying to get as good a deal for his team as possible. There’s no denying that has its benefits, but what it’s done is put them into a position where they are at legitimate risk of losing their first-line centre.

I’m not as high on Carlsson, 21, as others up to this........

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