The contract drama between the Minnesota Wild and Kirill Kaprizov, star forward, ended on Tuesday when the restricted-free agent signed a five year, $45,000,000 extension.
The deal was announced by the team. It has an average annual value $9 million through the 2025-2526 season. This is a remarkable cap number for a player who has only 55 NHL games. It's the sixth highest cap number for any NHL player aged 24 or younger. It ranks 18th among all NHL forwards.
Kaprizov (24 years old) scored 51 goals in 55 games last season as a rookie with the Wild. He was one vote away from winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the Year. Since 1992-93, he's one of four rookies to have led a playoff-qualifying scoring team.
Talks between Kaprizov and Wild were sometimes tense. ESPN was told by sources that there was "deafening silence” between the sides during the summer. Kaprizov was not able to sign an offer as a restricted-free agent but there was talk that Kaprizov could leverage the opportunity of playing in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, where he played for six years before moving on to the NHL in 2020-21.
Bill Guerin, general manager, stated last week that he was not concerned about the talks continuing while training camp began.
"You must be patient. This is not only about us. He said that it's the player, his feelings and how he feels. "We all process it differently." he added. These things can be complicated and take time. Kaprizov signed the agreement and posted an Instagram message with a picture of Wild celebrating a goal.
Minnesota is ready to push for the Western Conference title this season and Kaprizov is an integral part of that plan. Guerin purchased the contracts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise, long-time Wild players, to make salary-cap space available for the team's youth organization.
