WTF is Going on With Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild?

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Kirill Kaprizov - Minnesota Wild
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With three games in the bag, the Minnesota Wild are officially halfway through with their 2025 preseason schedule. In fact, the Wild’s regular season opener — on October 9 in St. Louis — is less than two weeks away.

And guess what else? Kirill Kaprizov still remains unsigned, beyond 2025-26. Both Kirill Kaprizov and president of hockey operations Bill Guerin spoke with media last week, where both sides said very little about the status of contract talks. He’s grown even quieter since.

Hopes rose slightly last week, when training camp officially opened, Kirill’s agent Paul Theofanous, paid a surprise visit to TRIA Rink, where he talked with Minnesota’s chief contract negotiator for two hours. Kaprizov’s teammates suddenly seemed optimistic about where talks were heading too.

Instead, we’ve seen quite the opposite. According to The Athletic, talks between Kaprizov and the Wild appear to be at a standstill, which has been the case for weeks now — pretty much since Kirill rejected Minnesota’s record-breaking 6-year, $128 million deal back on September 10.

Craig Leipold nervously meets with media — refuses to discuss Kirill Kaprizov

But if you were already nervous about the Wild’s likelihood of signing their 28-year-old superstar to an extension before Thursday, owner Craig Leipold’s annual meeting with media probably didn’t make you feel any better.

Leipold tried to take the high road, by refusing to talk about Kirill Kaprizov. But the owner’s forced silence only made the situation seem more desperate, as Guerin and multiple other Wild executives babysat their boss to make sure he didn’t say something he’d regret.

Craig Leipold, always enthusiastic, genuine and honest given any subject, was uncharacteristically and intentionally muzzled this time around.

“I said I wasn’t going to talk about Kirill,” Leipold said when immediately asked about Kaprizov. “I really am serious. There’s nothing to gain. Everything to lose.”

Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin stood behind Leipold’s left shoulder listening in while chief revenue officer, Mitch Helgerson, stood behind Leipold’s right.

The Athletic

If you are a Minnesota Wild fan confused by why and how this situation has gotten so out of hand, don’t be ashamed. We’ve been told by Guerin, Leipold and media for over a year that we had nothing to worry about, when it came Kirill Kaprizov’s future in St. Paul.

Concern growing inside Minnesota Wild organization?

Now, it turns out the Wild cannot pay him all that much more than other teams, which was supposedly going to help keep him around. And if he already rejected a record-setting contract, why should MN Wild fans have hope that he is interested in signing at all?

What we don’t know is if Theofanous is just trying to squeeze more money from the Wild because he thinks Leipold will be desperate enough to ante up more, if Kaprizov just doesn’t want to be the first one to sign of the several big names entering the final year of their contracts or, to be blunt, Kaprizov simply doesn’t want to stay in Minnesota.

The Athletic

Those are all valid questions, and unfortunately, cannot be answered at this point in time. What fans have to hope is that Kaprizov’s agent is just using shrewd negotiating tactics to get his client a contract that will drop jaws in 2025, but could look outdated by the time it expires.

The NHL salary cap is going up over the next two seasons, and while $16 million per season now would be the biggest yearly salary in league history, we will probably see contracts reach $20 million per year by the end of 2026. And Kaprizov isn’t the only superstar trying to get paid right now.

It’s very possible he and his representation are waiting for Connor McDavid — widely considered the best player in hockey — to sign the deal he is currently negotiating, which will set records and possibly pave the way for others behind him (like Kaprizov) to slot into a number they can feel comfortable with.

Optimism surrounding a possible Kirill Kaprizov extension fading…?

Still, Wild insiders Michael Russo and Joe Smith (The Athletic) are no longer letting those optimistic thoughts take over his thinking, when it comes to these Kirill Kaprizov negotiations. Minnesota’s superstar has already done enough to make one of the market’s most trusted beat reporters nervous.

Because, with Kirill’s agent no longer actively participating in negotiations, the Minnesota Wild have been forced to take a step back too. And if the two sides aren’t talking… there is plenty of reason for concern.

The longer this contract stalemate goes on — and Kaprizov said, “there’s a lot of time” and reminded that he’s got “one more year” on his deal — it would seem so much easier for him to just wait and see what else is out there.

Things are at such a sensitive stage right now, it made sense why Leipold was forced into being silent on this subject Thursday night.

The Athletic
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