The Minnesota Wild cannot escape the noise around Kirill Kaprizov and his contract status. Though general manager Bill Guerin denied reports of a rejected $128 million offer, Kaprizov’s future in the State of Hockey remains under a microscope as the team prepares to head into the 2025-26 season.
Kaprizov is less than a year away from free agency. To this point, he has not signed a new deal. The Wild star appears to be hands-off with this negotiation, as well. He’s focusing on playing hockey and allowing his agent to handle these talks.
Everyone is seeking some sort of update with the season only a week and a half away. While a contract has not been signed, the status of contract negotiations is of great interest. To this point, little is known about where talks stand.
Wild owner Craig Leipold spoke with reporters on Thursday night. However, he did not address Kaprizov’s contract status. In fact, he shut down the discussion of the topic altogether.
“I said I wasn’t going to talk about Kirill,” Leipold said when asked about the Wild’s franchise player, via The Athletic’s Michael Russo and Joe Smith. “I really am serious. There’s nothing to gain. Everything to lose.”
Wild Owner Not Worrying About Other Contracts
David Berding/Getty ImagesKirill Kaprizov is less than 10 months away from hitting NHL Free Agency.
Leipold mentioned an obvious truth of the situation on Thursday night. Kaprizov is not the only star-caliber player engaged in contract negotiations. Connor McDavid, Adrian Kempe, and Jack Eichel are among the names still in need of a contract.
This is important context. If Kaprizov had signed the $128 million contract offer, the Wild would have essentially set the market for star level contracts this year. Getting ahead of a market setting extension could be good for the Wild.
However, Leipold is not worried about what other teams are doing. He has a franchise player to re-sign, and that’s the focus for now.
“I think that is normally how these things would work — the first domino goes down, it likely moves the other ones,” Leipold said, via Russo and Smith. “But, honestly, we’re not involved in any of that. We’ve only got one thing we need to worry about.”
Kirill Kaprizov Contract Different From Past Situations
The Wild, unfortunately, are no strangers to losing star-level talent. Minnesota lost Marian Gaborik in 2009 NHL Free Agency, as he signed with the New York Rangers. He had turned down an $80 million contract offer before the 2008-09 season, as well.
However, Leipold noted that these aren’t the same thing. “The Gaborik situation was a disappointing situation, but this is entirely different,” the Wild owner stated, via Russo and Smith.
To an extent, this is true. Gaborik struggled with injuries during his final season in the State of Hockey. He played just 17 games, and then-new general manager Chuck Fletcher elected not to give him another deal.
At the same time, there are some similarities. Until Kaprizov came around, Gaborik may have been the most talented player in Wild history. He remains the franchise’s all-time goal-scoring leader. And he’s second behind Mikko Koivu in points scored despite having played 526 games fewer in Minnesota than Koivu.
Kaprizov is top-five in goals, assists, and points in Minnesota history already. He is not too far back of Gaborik’s scoring and points totals, either. It’s an apt comparison to make considering their track records as a member of the Wild.
Losing Gaborik was a crushing blow for the Wild at the time. If Kaprizov were to walk, it could be equally devastating. Only time will tell if Minnesota can keep its franchise cornerstone around long-term.
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