Leo Carlsson on his summer contract talks: Anaheim is home

Leo Carlsson says the summer was hard. He also says there was never much doubt about where he wanted to end up.

In a first-person letter to Ducks fans published on the club's website, the Swedish centre opened with the contract talks that hung over his off-season. "The contract negotiations over the summer were a lot to deal with for everybody, but when all is said and done, Anaheim is ultimately where I want to be for the rest of my life," he wrote. "That to me was always a no-brainer."

He was candid about the pull in the other direction. "It's just when that number pops up, it's hard to say no in the situation I was in," he wrote. "That's something I hope everybody understands. It was obviously hard thinking about how I could possibly leave here and not knowing where I'm going to go. But I'm so glad it all worked out."

Carlsson, entering his fourth season in Anaheim, said his teammates were supportive throughout and that he mostly shrugged off the negative messages that reached him on Instagram. "I usually just laugh at it and move on," he wrote.

The letter covers plenty of ground beyond the negotiations. Carlsson recalled leaving his hometown of Karlstad at 15 to play in Örebro, living on his own and competing against adults by 16, which he credits for easing his jump to the NHL. He admitted he thought it was "60/40" he would not go second overall to the Ducks in 2023.

He also wrote openly about living with a stutter, which he said has improved since he began working with a speech therapist in the United States. He has brought children who stutter to Ducks games. "I've come to realize that by being open about it, I can help a lot of people," he wrote.

As for expectations, Carlsson said individual pressure is not how he frames it. "My first goal is to make our team as successful as possible," he wrote, pointing to Anaheim's playoff series win last spring and the crowds that came with it as the feeling he wants back.