Elliotte Friedman Reveals 'Biggest Development' in Wild's Kirill Kaprizov Contract Saga

Kaprizov reiterated his comfort in Minnesota, emphasizing he is focused only on hockey.

“You guys know I like Minny and everyone knows this,” Kaprizov said. “We have a lot of time (to sign). It’s just 2025, and (there’s) one more year (that) I have. I just want to play hockey and focus, and win some games and go into (the Stanley Cup Playoffs) and win there.”

Guerin declined to offer specifics when asked about the contract talks but stressed Kaprizov remains the team’s top priority.

“These negotiations are private. I can’t really get into it,” Guerin said. “Things are fine. The most important thing is that we want to sign Kirill. He’s our franchise player. We want to keep him here. He’s a big part of our team. We’re working toward that. We’re doing the best we can.”

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman noted the biggest development of the saga on Friday's episode of the “32 Thoughts” podcast, with that being Kaprizov’s agent, Paul Theofanous, unexpectedly attending the start of Minnesota's training camp.

“I thought the biggest development was not anything (Kaprizov) said or Bill Guerin said,” Friedman said. “I thought the biggest development was that his agent, Paul Theofanous, was seen in Minnesota. Because I don’t believe anyone expected this to go anywhere for the next little while.”

Friedman added that the early resumption of discussions, with Theofanous in town, may even reflect Kaprizov’s own push to re-engage.

“The fact that he’s there is a good sign,” Friedman said. “I’m not sure the Wild expected another try at this so quickly. And what that makes me wonder is if the player played a role and said, ‘Okay, we’re gonna talk about this again.’”

Kaprizov, who owns three 40-goal seasons and a 108-point campaign in 2021-22, remains the centerpiece of Minnesota’s roster and the Wild's best offensive player.

The Russian winger is coming off scoring 56 points last season, although he got to that figure before missing half of the regular-season games due to injury and subsequent surgery, only reappearing in the playoffs.