NHL Rumors: Minnesota Wild and Kirill Kaprizov

Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast – Sixty-Six Million Reasons to Stay episode,

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Bukauskas: “Kind of feels like it’s becoming a big season in Minnesota, too. Don’t you think Elliotte? So Kirill kaprizov, next summer he’ll be eligible for an extension. Last week, the owner Craig Leopold doing a media availability with the local press there, saying his line, ‘that nobody can offer more money more term than what we would offer him when it comes time.’ What was your read when Leopold went out and said that about their star player?

Friedman: “So after reading those quotes, I was thinking Kyle, that this is going to become one of the biggest stories in the NHL this year. What, you know, for how long before Draisaitl signed, were people debating his future? Same with Austin Matthews. Look at what we’re doing with Mitch Marner.

It’s just when, like star players so rarely, move in this league, that when you get a situation where it looks like a star player might consider going elsewhere, might, people just glom onto it and they can’t get enough of it.

And so, you know, Craig Leopold, I love the quotes. I thought they were really honest. I think they’re completely true. But this is why, you know where Minnesota is both at the deadline and next summer, the results they have this year, just the fact that these are out there means that there’s going to be a kind of Kaprizov watch going on.

And now I saw Mark, Mark Lazarus of The Athletic, you know, he kind of made an off the cuff comment about, oh, I think Chicago, and he kind of had to walk it back, because you forget that sometimes you make these predictions, and then the the fires of the internet start burning and they singe you all over your body.

So, you know, you know, like, this is, this is the kind of like, so, so I really look at Minnesota’s year and they’re on notice, and they’re admittedly on notice. Like, nobody needs to tell them that Kirill Kaprizov, they’re going to have to show him that they’re worth staying with.

And you could always go into next season if you want. There’s lots of ways this could go, and I don’t really want to pour any gasoline on the fire with guesses or anything like this, but I’ve got down in my notes that, you know, just watch the Wild and Kaprizov because they’re on notice by their own words. Which means everybody else is on notice too.

And, you know, (Matt) Boldy got hurt. But the thing, the thing I noticed, is it looks like some of their kids, like (Liam) Ohgren and (Marco) Rossi, they had good camps. It’s still early, but that’s the kind of thing. Like, they’re going to need those guys to continue making steps if they’re going to convince Kaprizov, even (Jesper) Wallstedt the goalie, too. There’s another one. They’re going to need those kids to convince Kaprizov that the Wild is where he wants to stay. So I’ll be watching those young players as much as I’ll be watching the results.

Bukauskas: “And the other thing too, this is the final year of the Wild paying that hefty cap penalty for the buyouts of (Zach) Parise and (Ryan) Suter, right?

Friedman: “Yes.

Bukauskas: “This year, still almost $15 million in dead cap, just to that alone, it goes down to just under $1.7 next season. So flexibility opens up to do more roster wise for Bill Guerin and company. and though he’s still two years away from a new deal to create a situation for Kaprizov to sign their long term, because it sure sounds like that’s the team’s desire.

But you’re right, it’s a big time for them now, after missing the playoffs last year. Something they haven’t done a lot in the last decade, but they came up short last year, so suddenly it feels like the pressure’s on there as well, to have a much better outcome here and to convince a guy of Kaprizov’s caliber, this is where you want to be. This is where you’re going to have the best chance at winning.

Friedman: “And you know what, you know, and you know what Kyle, some of that will be part of their pitch to him. Like the shackles are coming off, no more handcuffs even though, obviously, a chunk of that money will be going to him.