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Kirill Kaprizov leads Wild in goals and points, and leading the way for rookie Marat Khusnutdinov

john shipley, pioneer press
·4 min read

As if Kirill Kaprizov hasn’t been doing enough to keep the Minnesota Wild in the NHL playoff chase, the star winger was given another job this week.

“Good driver,” rookie Marat Khusnutdinov explained. “Free taxi.”

It’s actually more than that as the Wild have relied on Kaprizov to help ease the transition from Russia to the U.S. for Khusnutdinov, a second-round pick in the 2020 entry draft who signed a two-way, two-year entry contract on Feb. 29 and made his NHL debut in Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Anaheim.

Kaprizov has been translating for Khusnutdinov and coach John Hynes during some of their meetings and generally spending as much time as possible with the 21-year-old center who had never been to the U.S. until he arrived from his native Moscow last Saturday.

On Thursday afternoon, Kaprizov drove his new teammate to the rink and gave him a few pointers before his first game in the NHL. Khusnutdinov played four seasons in the KHL, scoring 22 goals among 53 points in 156 games.

“I think he was a little bit (nervous), but he don’t show this a lot,” Kaprizov said. “It’s (daunting) for everyone, first game in NHL. It’s different, and everyone tries to help him in the locker room and on the ice to feel better.”

Khusnutdinov played 11:54 on Thursday. He didn’t record a point, but was 6 for 9 on faceoffs and blocked four shots, a strong NHL debut. It’s a faster transition for Khusnutdinov than the one Kaprizov made, but not by much. Kaprizov, who turns 27 on April 26, played five full seasons in the KHL — where he had 98 goals and 185 points in 209 games.

“I think his English is pretty good. Better than mine when I came here,” Kaprizov said. “Mine was zero. I just know, ‘Hey, how are you?’ That’s it. … He can talk with the coach and with the guys in the locker room, too.”

Now he’s a translator.

“If it’s going to be a longer conversation, Kirill will pop in there,” Hynes said.

Kaprizov’s transition to the NHL was about as smooth as could be expected, although his first season was the 55-game 2020-21 COVID season. He had a goal and assist in his debut, and three goals and nine points in his first 11 games and never really slowed down. Through Thursday, Kaprizov has 148 goals and 308 points in 263 games.

On Thursday, he scored the go-ahead goal against the Ducks, giving him eight goals and 11 points in his past six games, during which the Wild have gone 5-0-1 to pull within four points of Vegas and Los Angeles for the Western Conference’s final two postseason spots with 15 games remaining.

“It’s easy when you start scoring more goals,” Kaprizov said. “It’s feeling better, and you feel better on the ice and (in the) locker room, everything. It’s easy when you just keep going, easy to live life.”

Coming back from a severe hamstring injury, Kaprizov struggled early. He had five goals and 15 points in 17 games, and was skating and battling hard, but he looked off, making some key turnovers in a 5-10-2 start, and was an overall minus-8. Heading into a big game at St. Louis on Saturday — with a win, the Wild would put four points between themselves and the Blues — he had a team-high 34 goals and 74 points, and is among the team leaders in plus/minus at plus-11.

To that, Kaprizov has added being a mentor, and driver, to his duties.

“Kirill’s an elite player, but he’s such a down-to-earth, great guy. Coachable. Great teammate,” Hynes said. “Obviously, what he’s doing with Marat, especially living in the same area, same hotel basically, taking him under his wing, I think it’s really great.”

Khusnutdinov is grateful.

“He’s a good person, an amazing player,” Khusnutdinov said through a translator after Thursday’s game. “I can’t really add much more than that. I’m very happy to meet him and play with him. Like I said, he plays amazing, he’s an amazing person and a really good hockey player. I’m just really happy to be his teammate.”

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