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John Shipley: Next season will play large role in Wild’s ability to re-sign Kirill Kaprizov

john shipley, pioneer press
·4 min read

The post mortem for the Wild’s 2023-24 season, their second without a postseason appearance in 12 years, was full of disappointed faces. General manager Bill Guerin, coach John Hynes and a phalanx of players all expressed regret at what might have been.

Still, Kirill Kaprizov’s sour puss stood out.

This spring marked the first time in Kaprizov’s professional career that he finished outside of the postseason since 2016-17. Asked if he would watch this year’s NHL playoffs, he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to watch a lot.”

This is not a great sign for the Wild, whose general adequacy has hamstrung its efforts to draft a superstar — and general postseason inadequacy is wearing out its fan base. Now they have a superstar, nabbed in a savvy move by former GM Chuck Fletcher with a fifth-round pick, and after next season he’ll be negotiating a contract extension.

And he’s not happy.

If that sounds familiar it’s because you’re old enough to remember the long contract saga of Marian Gaborik, the Wild’s previous franchise player who ultimately opted to leave for the New York Rangers for less than the Wild were offering.

Is Kaprizov as unhappy as Gaborik was? It doesn’t seem so. But it’s naïve to believe that another season like this one — or, frankly, another season with a first-round playoff exit — won’t be a wobbly platform from which to negotiate a contract extension for one of the NHL’s best players.

“Kirill wants to win. I know that,” Guerin said the day after Minnesota’s season ended with a 4-3 loss to Seattle. “And yeah, I do feel that we need to show him that we’re committed to winning.”

Kaprizov, who joined the Wild after five full seasons in Russia’s elite Kontinental Hockey League is three years into a five-year, $45 million extension that itself was something of a difficult birth. He played 54 playoff games in the KHL and won a championship in 2016-17.

Since arriving, Kaprizov has rewritten the Wild record books, the first franchise player to finish with consecutive 40-goal seasons, three and counting. Starting with the 55-game COVID-19 season in 2020, he has amassed 160 goals and 330 points in 278 games. But Kaprizov has played in only 19 playoff games in Minnesota, and won only seven of them.

Signing a burgeoning star, and restricted free agent, to a five-year deal that makes him a millionaire several times over was the easy part for Guerin. Now, he will have to convince Kaprizov, already a rich man with a rich NHL resume, that staying with his buddies in Minnesota will give him a realistic chance to win a Stanley Cup.

By NHL rules, that can’t start until Kaprizov has finished the penultimate year of his current deal, which means immediately following next season. It’s difficult to overestimate the importance of the 2024-25 Wild not just making the postseason, but winning at least a series to show Kaprizov that the roster is on track for a deep playoff run.

The Wild have several promising prospects — forwards Liam Ohgren and Riley Heidt, goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, defenseman Carson Lambos among them — and good young NHL players in Brock Faber, Marco Rossi and Marat Khusnutdinov. Guerin’s hope is that, soon, those young players meld with veterans such as Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, Marcus Foligno and Mats Zucarello to create a Stanley Cup contender.

Losing Kaprizov for nothing — they’re not going to trade him — would be catastrophic to everything this franchise has been building.

Marian Gaborik was a very good player, the most talented forward to lace up skates for the Wild. If he continues at this pace, Kaprizov will be a Hall of Fame forward — because he’s getting better. He’s not just preternaturally talented. He has a work ethic and competitive drive, and he turned 27 last week.

“That’s a guy we obviously want to keep happy and make sure that he’s feeling comfortable here and knowing that it’s a team that can get the job done,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said. “He’s such a huge piece of this team.”

One can make a cogent argument that Kaprizov’s mid-winter rib injury is ultimately what killed Minnesota’s chances of pulling itself out of the 5-10-4 hole they dug early. Three points out when he was hurt Dec. 30 in Winnipeg, the Wild lost seven of their next eight games (1-6-1) without him and never recovered.

“You need superstars to win and to pull you out of holes,” Foligno said. “But at the end of the day, he wants to win a championship. So do we all, so not getting anything done — especially this year — I’m sure he’s very frustrated.”

How frustrated would Kaprizov be after another season like this one?

“I don’t know. We’ll see what happens next year,” he said in his improving English. “I can’t say if we don’t make playoffs. I hope we make playoffs next year.”

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