Subscribe
Follow Us
The frustrating refrain for the Minnesota Wild continued earlier this spring, as they once again failed to make it out of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Minnesota hasn't advanced to the Western Conference Semifinal since 2015 when they defeated the St. Louis Blues in Round 1.
The current Wild roster looks far different than that version of the team which featured the likes of Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Devan Dubnyk, and Jason Pominville.
Right now, the Wild are locked in a stalemate with restricted free-agent forward Marco Rossi while also hoping to get franchise forward Kirill Kaprizov to agree to a long-term extension that would keep him in St. Paul for the prime of his career.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin, who has been trying to find a solution to keep both players with the Wild, said that what has transpired with both of them this summer isn't a surprise to him.
“We’ve obviously made some changes, and I think we’ve gotten better,” Guerin said, via RG's James Murphy. “The additions of [Vladimir] Tarasenko and Nico Sturm have made us deeper. I know we’re still trying to extend Kirill [Kaprizov] and get Marco [Rossi] done, but none of what’s gone on with those two guys is surprising. So overall, I feel like we’re in a good spot.”
However, it didn't appear as though there were any concrete updates in the negotiations for either player.
“I don’t like to put really anything out in the public when it comes to negotiations, but no, there’s no real updates,” Guerin told Murphy. “The talks have been pretty consistent, and I’ve been happy with them.”
Injuries limited Kaprizov to just 41 games in the 2024-25 season, but he still scored 25 goals and added 31 assists. Meanwhile, Rossi reached new career-highs in both categories by scoring 24 goals and 36 assists.
The Wild cannot afford to lose Kirill Kaprizov
While it remains to be seen what kind of contract that Kaprizov will ultimately agree to, one thing is for certain — the Wild cannot afford to lose the Russian superstar.
Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy in 2021 as the NHL's best rookie and has gone on to lead the Wild in scoring in four of his five seasons in the NHL thus far. In just his second National Hockey League campaign, he broke the Wild single-season record for goals and is already ranked fourth all-time in franchise history with 185 tallies.
Additionally, his 386 points are already fifth best in franchise history.
It'll be interesting to see what the resolution is — for both Rossi and Kaprizov — and whether both players will continue to call the State of Hockey home for the foreseeable future.
