Since Kirill Kaprizov made the jump to the NHL from Russia ahead of the 2020-21 season, the forward has been a game changer for the Minnesota Wild.
Kaprizov's arrival in North America was highly anticipated, following his KHL dominance in just his early 20s. Before joining the Wild, Kaprizov had already put up higher than point-per-game numbers in Russia and led the KHL in points per game during the 2019-20 season. However, he's still managed to surpass all expectations, posting 27 goals and 51 points in 55 games with the Wild during his rookie season, which helped him to win the Calder Trophy.
This year, Kaprizov has managed to take a massive step, with a ridiculous 23 goals and 62 points in 46 games, a pace of 41 goals and 111 points per 82 games. Those numbers have Kaprizov on pace to obliterate the franchise record for points in a season, held by Marian Gaborik, who scored 83 points in the 2007-08 season.
It's a major change for the Wild to have a star of Kaprizov's caliber. Up until now, the likes of Marian Gaborik, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise and Ryan Suter were some of the top talent Minnesota ever had. In the Wild's two decades as a franchise, however, they've never had a legitimate superstar that came close to being on Kaprizov's level.
With Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild are thriving and it's not just individual records that could be broken this year – the Wild are also on pace for their most successful season ever. Last season was statistically the best season Minnesota had ever had, with a 35-16-5 record and a .670 points percentage. The Wild are on pace to beat that, however, currently holding a 31-13-3 record with a .691 points percentage.
Minnesota currently sits second in the Central Division in points percentage (as well as the Western Conference overall), behind only the Colorado Avalanche. It's extremely promising to see the Wild where they are and it leaves hope that the team could also reach new heights in terms of postseason success.
In the team's history as a franchise, the Wild have only reached the third round of the playoffs once, back in 2003. While they're long past the rough first decade where they missed the playoffs in eight of their first 11 seasons, Minnesota hasn't managed to make a deep postseason run since then. They've made it past the first round just twice over the last nine years, despite qualifying for the playoffs seven times in that stretch. Minnesota has never been able to make much noise in the postseason – but this could be the season for them to do so.
In addition to Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello is having a monster year, with 52 points in just 41 games, while Kevin Fiala has established himself as a key forward with the Wild over the last few years as well, sitting at 40 points in 47 games. Ryan Hartman has been a huge surprise, putting up previously unseen production, while 2019 12th overall pick Matthew Boldy has scored eight goals and 16 points in 16 games since making the jump to the NHL. Other forward depth in Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway, Marcus Foligno and others make this potentially the most talented and deepest forward group the Wild have ever iced.
The blue line remains solid as well, headlined by Jonas Brodin, Matt Dumba, Alex Goligoski and Jared Spurgeon. The Wild's goaltending is sturdy too, with Cam Talbot having a decent year and more interestingly. Kaapo Kahkonen putting up some great numbers with an increasing workload.
The point is, the Wild have finally managed to build a legitimate contender and look to be a huge threat in the West, with a key reason for this being that they now have established top forwards. That said, it's difficult to think they'd have the same success if Kirill Kaprizov had never made the jump to North America.
He's already one of the most talented and exciting forwards in the league, with a mix of outstanding agility, skating and offensive skills. Kaprizov holds the fifth-highest points per game average in the NHL, behind only Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl and Jonathan Huberdeau. Plus, at 24 years old and in just his sophomore year, there's a chance we haven't even seen Kaprizov at his best, with the potential for him to continuing taking more steps with Minnesota.
Despite a relatively long (and somewhat public) contract negotiation this offseason, Kaprizov is now committed to the Wild until 2026, which will keep him in Minnesota through a lot of his prime. It'll give the Wild a chance to take the next step as an organization and finally contend to win a Stanley Cup.
This is potentially the best team the Wild have ever had in franchise history, and Kaprizov has played a huge role in making that happen. Since his arrival, Kirill Kaprizov has been nothing short of outstanding and could help the Wild accomplish things they've never been able to.
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