Kirill “The Thrill” Kaprizov is headed back to Minnesota on a newly inked 5 year deal. The Wild and the reigning Calder Trophy winner came to terms on a 5yr/$45M deal that carries an AAV of $9M per season.
Kaprizov scored 27 goals and registered another 24 assists, good for 51pts in 55 games as a rookie last year. The Russian born winger and the Wild had been at an impasse for most of the offseason, with rumours that he was strongly considering accepting a contract in the KHL. His new contract will now carry the highest AAV of any player on the Wild roster.
With training camp set to open on September 23rd, Kaprizov’s new deal means fans can breathe easy knowing that the centrepiece of the Wild’s youth movement will hit the ice on time with his Minnesota teammates.
Wild GM Bill Guerin has had a busy offseason thus far, buying out the contracts of longtime Wild players Ryan Suter and Zach Parise while simultaneously trying to lock up the organization’s star 24 year old winger. Guerin also brought in free agents Alex Goligoski, Frederick Gaudreau, and Dmitry Kulikov amongst others on a drastically revamped Wild roster.
The Wild will need to rely on youth, and cheap veteran contracts if they want to compete over the next 4+ seasons. The Parise and Suter buyouts amount to a combined $4.7M this year, but then spike to $12.7M, $14.7M, and $14.7M in subsequent seasons. Getting Kaprizov locked up is obviously a huge first step, but the Wild will be hoping they can lean on players like Marco Rossi (who they took 9th overall in 2020 but sat out the year due to medical issues) and Jesper Wallstedt (selected 20th overall in this year’s draft) sooner rather than later if they hope to field a competitive roster.
Minnesota kicks off their season on Oct. 13th against the Anaheim Ducks in Orange County.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner