Nightmare scenario unfolds for Cutter Gauthier and the Ducks shortly after matching Leo Carlsson's offer sheet

The Ducks matched Philadelphia's five-year, $90 million offer sheet on Thursday, making Carlsson the highest-paid player in the NHL at $18 million per season.

Cutter Gauthier is still unsigned, coming off a 41-goal season and a $950,000 entry-level contract.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported the chatter around Gauthier has climbed toward $15 million annually, with some around the league expecting higher.

Anaheim is left with just over $9 million in cap space, per PuckPedia, which could turn the Gauthier signing into a nightmare.

ESPN reported that $85.3 million of the $90 million for Leo Carlsson arrives as buyout-proof signing bonuses, with nearly $20 million paid immediately.

Frank Seravalli placed the total due within the first 357 days at $38.9 million.

Philadelphia general manager Danny Briere did not simply choose a frightening average annual value.

He chose a payment schedule.

Henry and Susan Samueli wrote the check anyway.

Per ESPN, the extensions Anaheim handed Jamie Drysdale, Mason McTavish and Trevor Zegras contained zero signing bonus money.

That was a house rule, and house rules are leverage.

Pat Verbeek could once tell an agent the Ducks simply do not pay bonuses. That sentence is gone.

Gauthier cannot be offer sheeted, so Verbeek still controls the timeline and the term. He no longer controls the structure.

Anaheim can shrink a cap hit by stretching years. It cannot shrink cash it has already proven it will pay.

That is the part traveling beyond Orange County. Ownership groups spent years refusing bonus-heavy deals as policy, and Anaheim just showed how fast policy collapses when a rival forces the issue.

Also read on House Of Hockey :
Edmonton Oilers are under fire after former player comes forward with accusations