In September 2024, Wild owner Craig Leipold vowed that no NHL team would offer star forward Kirill Kaprizov more money or more years than Minnesota. Leipold proved to be a man of his word this month as the Wild reportedly offered the Russian scoring machine the largest contract in NHL history.
A week later, with training camp just days away, Kaprizov hasn’t taken Leipold on that eight-year, $128 million. With neither the Wild nor the player’s agent, Paul Theofanous, talking about why or what’s next, speculation is running at a fever pitch.
Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) skates on the ice during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Has another team, against NHL rules, made it clear to Theofanous and Kaprizov that there’s even more money available if they hold out for unrestricted free agency next July? Does Kaprizov want out of Minnesota? Does Kaprizov want even more money?
Many Wild fans, generally speaking, are worried that after a glimpse of life with a superstar, it’s all going to end in less than a year. Among those who aren’t concerned, seemingly, are Kaprizov and his Wild teammates.
“He’s got another year, he wants to play the game, and he doesn’t get phased by that stuff,” Wild forward Marcus Foligno said Monday at the team’s charity golf outing in Lake Elmo. “It’s going to take time. There’s just little things that they need to go back and forth with. We’re positive that he’ll be around, and knowing Kirill, he’s just focused on the next game and how to win as a team this season.”
As we wait for the next phase of the “back and forth,” one retired former NHL front office executive, speaking to the Pioneer Press on background, offered a theory that makes some sense: Perhaps the Wild’s initial offer was too light on money and too heavy on years.
Kaprizov is coming off the shortest campaign of a five-year NHL career, 41 regular-season games after suffering a lower body injury that required surgery after the New Year. He still finished second on the team in goals (25), third in assists (31) and third in points (56).
The generally-accepted thinking is that a player dealing with injuries will want to get the largest number of years available in his next contract to secure his financial future, regardless of his health and durability over the next few seasons. But confident athletes in the prime of their playing years tend to bet on themselves, determined that their production will continue at the levels they, and their teams, have come to expect.
Kaprizov turned 28 in April, in the midst of the Wild’s first-round playoff series versus Vegas. Minnesota’s top-line winger put on a show, scoring five goals in the six games. If he agreed to the Wild’s first offer, and signed here for another eight years, that would make him 36 (or 37 depending on when the new contract officially began) when he was next a free agent.
A player that age can see the finish line to his playing career. So can teams that might sign him, which would be reflected in the offers he gets. By contrast, if Kaprizov’s next contract is shorter — four to six years for, say, $18 million a year — he would be around 34 when seeking what likely would be his final pro contract.
At that point, teams would expect more out of him, and pay him more as he skates into the sunset.
A shorter-term contract also would likely allay the fears of some Wild fans, who felt burned by 13-year deals that Zach Parise and Ryan Suter signed in 2012. Bought out with four years remaining on their deals, both are still being paid by the Wild through next season, and the buyout terms ate up large chunks of the team’s cap space for the two seasons.
While having Kaprizov under contract for the next two election cycles sounds good to some, the mammoth Parise and Suter deals seemed like a winning play at the time, as well.
The Wild promised to make Kaprizov an offer bigger than anyone had ever seen before, and kept their word. He reportedly wants something different. While there is surely much to come in this ongoing story — training camp officially begins Thursday at TRIA Rink — tweaking the offer to include more money for fewer seasons makes sense.
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