Rest easy, Wild fans. The day that we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. Wild LW, Kirill Kaprizov and Wild GM, Bill Guerin held a press conference today in St. Paul to announce an NHL record 8-year, $136 million extension for the 28-yr-old Russian, Kaprizov. Not since the double dose of disappointment in 2012 when the Wild signed Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, has a player signing created this much buzz in the State of Hockey.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved the Parise/Suter move at the time. As a sports fan in Minnesota, we don’t get to see bold moves like that very often. Don’t even get me started on Herschel Walker. Usually, if a Minnesota sports team makes a bold move, it’s to trade the large majority of its talent to save money for the cheapskate owners (looking at you, Twins). I digress.
Already, there are comments and debate about whether or not the Wild overpaid to keep Kaprizov. To that, I respond with “perhaps.” However, it’s the best move that the team could make that will give them a reasonable shot at getting out of the first round of the playoffs (see Wild playoff history for more info). Are there concerns about his ability to stave off injury throughout the season? Sure. But when and where would the Wild be able to find another player with the elite passing, shooting and skating skills as Kirill “The Thrill” has for any cheaper. The answer? Never and nowhere.
The alternatives to signing him now? Waiting for his contract to expire at the end of this season and then trying to sign him would unquestionably have been more expensive because he would have been an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career and he could leverage interest from other teams to drive up the price. No good.
Trade him mid-season as the trade deadline approached? Teams would know they could get him for far-below market value because the Wild would either have to take the best offer or risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season. With teams like Chicago, Calgary, Detroit and Anaheim who have a boatload of cap space, they would battle for Kaprizov and sign him to a long-term deal, and we would likely get next to nothing in comparison. Also, no good.
Wait all season, keeping his contract status as a major distraction in the locker room? That would not have bode well for the Wild either. Having endless questions about his expiring contract status would have been a distraction for everyone associated with the club, including its fans, throughout the season. The looming question about his future would have hung over Minnesota like Canadian wildfire smoke.
To be honest, unless Kaprizov specifically told the team that he no longer wanted to play in Minny, they had no choice, but to put all their chips in the pot and go all out to keep Kaprizov in the State of Hockey – which they accomplished.
Still not convinced about his importance to the Wild? Here you go.
As of right now, the Wild have the following players under contract for at least the next three years:
- Kirill Kaprizov – 1 year/$9MM this year and then 8 years/$17MM AAV on his new contract
- Matt Boldy – 5 years/$7MM AAV
- Joel Eriksson Ek – 4 years/$5.25MM AAV
- Marco Rossi – 3 years/$5MM AAV
- Yakov Trennin – 3 years/$3.5MM AAV
- Marcus Foligno – 3 years/$4MM AAV
- Brock Faber – 5 years/$8.5MM AAV
- Jonas Brodin – 3 years/$6MM AAV
- Jacob Middleton – 4 years/$4.35MM AAV
- Danila Yurov – 3 years/$950K AAV
Jared Spurgeon will be 35 and making $7,575MM AAV for the next two years and then will be an UFA. Brodin will be 35 at the end of his contract in three years, making $6MM per season. By that time Faber, Middleton, and hopefully Zeev Buium and David Jiricek would be the top blueliners. Letting a 37-year-old Spurgeon and possibly, a 35-yr-old in Brodin walk, would clear over $13.5 million per season once Brodin finishes his contract.
Buium has this year and next year under contract before he becomes a RFA, with Jiricek on the last year of his rookie contract this year and will therefore, become a RFA at season’s end. Both will be inexpensive extensions, if the Wild were to re-sign them.
Depending on how Mats Zuccarello and Vladamir Tarasenko play this year, moderately sized extensions could be in order for those guys as well. However, the next player that Wild Bill now needs to focus on is, of course, the Gus Bus. Goalie, Filip Gustavsson is on his last year of a $3.75MM contract and will become an UFA at the end of the season, unless he’s signed to an extension before then. With Jesper Wallstedt beginning his first full season as a #2 goaltender in the NHL, the pressure will be on him to perform and on Guerin to sign his #1 tendie in Gustafsson.
That all being said, Guerin can go out tonight and have a couple of martinis, as he alluded to in this morning’s press conference, but rest assured, he’ll be back in the office tomorrow working on bringing Lord Stanley’s Cup to the State of Hockey.
Wild fans will be able to watch Kaprizov and the rest of the Wild tonight in St. Paul as they match up against the Winnipeg Jets for another preseason contest starting at 7pm. Just ten days left until the Wild begin their 25th season in the newly renamed Grand Casino Arena in beautiful downtown St. Paul.
Follow me on The Morning Skate all season and be sure to tune into The Morning Skate podcast on your favorite streaming service for all of your NHL news. Until next time, Go Wild!!
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