MN Wild Not Happy With Kirill Kaprizov’s Play

Since Kirill Kaprizov signed his massive contract extension at the end of last offseason, the Minnesota Wild have been focused on building a Stanley Cup contender around their $17 million superstar.

Of course, that mission only intensified when president of hockey operations Bill Guerin sent most of the Wild’s top trade assets to Vancouver, in exchange for Quinn Hughes.

It was a bold move that, not only won him GM of the Year, but helped Minnesota advance to the second round of the NHL Playoffs for the first time since 2014. This offseason, however, Billy has lost more talent than he’s gained… at least on paper.

They’ve lost top-nine forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Marcus Johansson and Kaprizov’s best friend, Mats Zuccarello. There are a few different reasons why Minnesota decided to move on from Zuccy.

Minnesota Wild want more from Kirill Kaprizov

However, the most interesting reason reported by far involves Kaprizov. Michael Russo (The Athletic) has reported on numerous occasions that the Wild wanted to cut the cord between Kirill and Mats, in hopes of pushing their 29-year-old superstar to another level.

Then over the weekend, Russo revealed on his latest episode of the “Worst Seats in the House” podcast that the Minnesota Wild aren’t happy overall with how Kirill Kaprizov played last season.

That’s why Billy felt compelled to cut ties with Zuccy (39:00 mark). The report came while answering an audience question over whether or not the Wild regret signing Kaprizov instead of trading him.

Audience Question: “Do you think at any point they regretted Kaprizov in the last six months?”

Russo: “I think that they — I don’t think they regret it — but I think they are not happy with the way [Kaprizov is] playing. I think that’s a big reason why Zuccarello is leaving.”

Michael Russo – Worst Seats in the House Podcast

Related: Minnesota Wild Sign “Monster” 2026 Draft Pick

The MN Wild need Kaprizov to perform like someone who is being paid more than any other forward in the league. In 78 games last season — the second-most he’s played in his NHL career — Kirill scored 45 goals and totaled 89 points. That’s 4th and 14th most in the league, respectively.

However, after never turning the puck over more than 73 times in any season prior, Kirill Kaprizov gave it away 112 times in 2025-26. To make matters worse, he took the puck away from opponents just 22 times, second lowest of his career.

What if the Wild would have traded Kirill Kaprizov?

Russo went on to remind listeners that, while Minnesota would enjoy having some extra room to work with under the NHL salary cap, one major reason why the Hughes, Larkins and Tkachuks of the world want to play for the Wild.

So while Kirill’s massive contract has certainly made Guerin’s life more difficult this offseason, there’s a reason why he was able to demand as much as he did.

“The one thing I will say, I don’t like, look, these are human beings. I mean, to me, there’s no doubt internally they’re like, wow, if we said no to Kirill and traded him, we’d be flush with cap space, flush with prospects. We’d have a chance to get in on these other guys. But the other side of that is that one reason why Quinn Hughes wants to stay in Minnesota, one reason why Dylan Larkin wants to come to Minnesota, one reason why Brady Tkachuk considered Minnesota is because they see this team as a really good team, not just because of Boldy, Faber and Quinn, but because of guys like Kirill.”

Michael Russo – Worst Seats in the House Podcast

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