All that posturing worked out for Kirill Kaprizov after all.
The Minnesota Wild superstar wing signed an eight-year, $136 million contract to remain with the Wild, the largest contract in NHL history, on Tuesday.
Kaprizov reportedly turned down a huge eight-year extension, which would have been the largest in NHL history, earlier in the off-season. Kaprizov, the 2021 Calder Trophy winner, holds the franchise record for points per game in Wild history (1.22) and has led Minnesota in points in four of his first five NHL seasons.
Kaprizov’s $17 million single-season AAV is the largest in league history — surpassing Joe Sakic’s previous-record total of $16.45 million, which he received in 1997-98 — and the total contract surpasses the eight-year, $112 million deal that Leon Draisaitl inked before last season.
Wild ‘Never Wanted To Entertain’ Kaprizov Leaving
The Wild have never reached the Stanley Cup Final in their 25-year NHL history and have only played in the Western Conference Final once (2003), since they have lacked dynamic offensive players.
So the fact Kaprizov was on the verge of potentially leaving via free agency was unsettling to Wild general manager Bill Guerin.
“We never wanted to entertain Kirill not being here,” Guerin told ESPN.
So the fact Kaprizov had turned down an eight-year, $128 million contract from the Wild earlier in camp, had to feel alarming to fans — especially to those old enough to remember when the team’s last true superstar forward, Marian Gaborik, left Minnesota to sign with the New York Rangers in 2009.
“It’s like it wasn’t really ever turned down. It was just never accepted,” Wild owner Craig Leipold told The Athletic’s Michael Russo on Tuesday. “I mean, we got worried, to be honest with you. It was like, ‘OK, wow. Where is this going? What do you think the real issues are?’ I guess for the first time, it really gave us pause: ‘Are we going to be able to get this thing done?’”
Still, Leipold told Russo that his chief concern in Minnesota was not about money but about if it was committed to doing something that had never been done in 51 years of NHL play in the North Star State.
“The questions that Kirill always had was about the team and about having a competitive team and our commitment and everything like that to winning a Stanley Cup,” Leipold said. “He never raised the money issue. That was always the agent.
“So, I mean, I think we always thought that we’re going to get this thing done, and we thought, at least in the last week or so, 17 was the number.”
Kaprizov: ‘Now We Just Start Playing’
Kaprizov is already the most accomplished offensive player in Wild history and is setting the bar, contract-wise, for the rest of the league — at least until Connor McDavid either signs or hits free agency.
Yet, the Kaprizov contract was threatening to loom over the Wild 2025-26 season. But that cloud is gone.
“Now it’s all done and we just start playing and we don’t think about this,” Kaprizov said, according to ESPN.com.
Minnesota Wild Lock In Superstar Kirill Kaprizov To Largest Contract In NHL History