The Minnesota Wild's front office completed a deal with pending restricted free agent Marco Rossi this summer, but have yet to strike an agreement with Kirill Kaprizov. Recently, Kaprizov turned down an NHL-record contract offer. While negotiations have seemingly hit a rough patch, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the Wild have “zero appetite” to engage in trade negotiations for their star forward.
“The Minnesota Wild are not engaging with teams on Kirill Kaprizov, according to league sources. There’s zero appetite to do that at this juncture. They also haven’t asked for a list of teams he’d want to be traded to,” the hockey insider reported on Wednesday.
With a year remaining on the deal and Kaprizov not becoming an unrestricted free agent until the summer of 2026, Bill Guerin and the Wild front office still have time to get a deal done.
Hockey insider Frank Seravalli has reported that the latest offer to the Russian forward was for eight years and $128 million. That would have made him the highest-paid player in the league by both total dollars and AAV. This offer remains on the table.
LeBrun continued, noting that the Wild are unlikely to change the offer, as not to negotiate against themselves. He also believes that “Kaprizov wants to stay in Minnesota.”
Why is there a holdup in the Kirill Kaprizov contract?
Insight as to why a deal has not been completed yet was also provided by LeBrun. Paul Theofanous, the agent for Kaprizov, has leverage in this situation. The Wild want to “desperately” sign this player, which could result in Theofanous getting a little more money for his client.
“For now, it’s a tough negotiation with a veteran agent in Paul Theofanous, who has grinded many a team over the years — and made his clients a lot of money,” LeBrun wrote. “The reality is, the Wild desperately want to sign the player, so the agent does have a lot of leverage. Can he get a few more dollars above $16 million a year? Perhaps.”
There is also the Connor McDavid factor in these negotiations. McDavid is still in contract negotiations on an extension with the Edmonton Oilers.
As one of the best, if not the best player in the world, McDavid will set the market. Once he resets the market with his next contract, his percentage of the cap could dictate the amount Kaprizov can command from the Wild.
With the possibility of getting more money out of the franchise, the Russian forward can play the waiting game. In the process, the Wild can stay patient and do not need to consider trading their best player just yet.
