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Kirill Kaprizov, Wild 'not close' on contract extension, insider says
© Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images

The most pressing need for the Wild this offseason was to lock star winger Kirill Kaprizov into a new long-term deal. Kaprizov enters the final year of a five-year, $45 million contract he signed with the Wild in 2021. While general manager Bill Guerin has been vocal about his confidence that a deal will get done, according to The Athletic's Michael Russo, a deal is, in fact, "not close" at the moment.

Speaking to The DFO Rundown podcast on Monday, Russo said, "Bill Guerin has been extremely publicly confident that they are going to get it done. But from what I checked on the last couple days, they are not close."

Kaprizov, 28, is coming off a season in which he missed 41 games. In the games he did play, Kaprizov registered 56 points (25 goals and 31 assists). Since joining the Wild in 2020, Kaprizov has appeared in 319 games, scoring 185 goals and adding 201 assists.

Russo has previously stated that he believes the Wild will make the Russian winger the highest-paid player in the league—a statement he reiterated again on Monday.

"I think he's definitely going to surpass (Leon) Draisaitl," said Russo. "This is one franchise that has never had a superstar like (Kirill) Kaprizov. It is imperative that they get him done, and it's not going to be for $14 million (AAV). He will become the highest paid winger in the National Hockey League. The question is how much and how long? And if he does it?"

In his five-year NHL career, Kaprizov has proven he belongs in the conversation as one of the best players in the entire league. It's a no-brainer for Minnesota to dish out a record contract to secure his long-term services. For Kaprizov, it may come down to the competitiveness of the Wild—and whether he believes he can win in Minnesota.

While the Wild have made the playoffs in 11 of the past 13 seasons, they have failed to get out of the first round since the 2015 playoffs.

As for a timeline on when a deal could get finalized and announced? Russo pointed out that the last time Minnesota and Kaprizov’s representatives negotiated a deal, it went down to the eve of training camp before a contract was hammered out.

"I think, at this point, they're going to take a little bit of a breather here. When Kaprizov gets back into town, I think, then Bill Guerin will meet with him and just make sure everything is being conveyed to him, and not lost in translation," continued Russo. "He's in Moscow. Bill just got back from Europe from a holiday. His agent is Paul Theofanous, who also has several clients and is a busy man as well. ... I think it's going to be one of those things, where they're probably, the three of them and (Wild assistant GM) Matt Sells are going to have to get together and get this done."

This article first appeared on Bring Me The News and was syndicated with permission.

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