The Minnesota Wild are waiting on pins and needles for Kirill Kaprizov to come to the State of Hockey. He’s in his final year of his contract in the KHL with CSKA Moskva.
In the team’s second game of the season the talented winger recorded two assists. Those two assists were Kaprizov’s first points of the young season.
Last season Kaprizov scored 30 goals and recorded 21 assists. The year prior he scored 15 goals and had 25 assists.
If Kaprizov opts to join the Minnesota Wild for the 2020-2021 season the State of Hockey will be in a frenzy. There would be an adjustment period for Kaprizov, but he’d give the Wild a dynamic, young playmaker. One of the first things new general manager, Bill Guerin did was call Kaprizov’s agent to set up a meeting. Obviously, getting Kaprizov to join the Wild next season is at the top of his priority list.
Wild re-sign Louie Belpedio
The Wild recently announced that they re-signed defenseman Louie Belpedio to a one-year, two-way contract. This past season with the Iowa Wild, Belpedio recorded 21 points, with six goals and 15 assists.
The former third-round pick appeared in two games for the Wild this past season. In his NHL debut for the Wild in 2017-2018, the defenseman recorded two assists against the San Jose Sharks. In that debut he made Wild history according to IowaWild.com.
"He recorded two assists in his NHL debut at San Jose on April 7, 2018, to become the first rookie in franchise history to record two points in his debut."
If an injury were to occur to any defenseman for the Wild, Belpedio would be on the short list to get the call to replace them.
With Belpedio getting re-signed, Kevin Fiala remains the only restricted free agent for the Wild to remain unsigned. With training scheduled to start in eight days, one would figure a deal is imminent.