Contract negotiations between the Minnesota Wild and superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov were seemingly on the right path recently. The owner seemed to think things were getting close to a resolution while general manager Bill Guerin didn’t seem to worried about not having an extension for his best player even as training camp draws near. However, a report from a long-time hockey reporter indicates that things aren’t as copacetic as fans might hope for.
Sources say #mnwild superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s camp turned down an extension offer believed to be 8-years, $128 million in a meeting on Tuesday in Minnesota that would have made him the highest-paid player in #NHL history in both AAV ($16 million) and total dollars.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 10, 2025
The rumors have always pointed to Kaprizov signing a deal that would eclipse Leon Draisaitl’s $14 million cap hit that currently holds the title of the highest in the NHL. The questions have always revolved around what the final number would be and for how long the contract would last. According to Frank Seravelli, fans now know that the answers aren’t $16 million and eight years.
The immediate reaction is one of doom and gloom of course. Kaprizov’s rejection of this offer obviously means that he doesn’t want to stay with the Wild, and that he’s going to jump into free agency when his contract expires next July. At least that’s how the pessimists feel about it. Who knows? They could be right.
Or, it’s just the two sides negotiating. Minnesota’s biggest advantage in these negotiations is the fact that they can offer him the most money right now. Not only do they have the cap room, they are the only team that can offer him an eight-year contract at this moment.
However, that edge is negated if Kaprizov doesn’t want to stick around for eight years. There is a chance that the 28-year-old might be content with a shorter deal and another crack at free agency when the cap goes up in a couple of years. If he signs an eight-year deal right now, it would be the last big money deal of his career as he would be 37 when it expires.
Also, he might not be convinced that Minnesota gives him the best shot, long term, to win a Stanley Cup. While there are a lot of solid pieces on the roster, the fact that they haven’t advanced past the first round since he joined the team could be a bit of a red flag for him. Perhaps he feels signing a shorter-term deal gives him an out if Guerin’s plan implodes.
There is some similarity between Kaprizov and Connor McDavid’s situation. Recently McDavid was quoted as saying that, “All options are on the table and that would mean length of term, short term, long term, no term. All options are on the table as I’ve alluded to, so that would include a short-term deal.”
The same applies to Kaprizov. At this point all options are still available, and while there is some comfort in having a superstar player locked up for as long as possible, sometimes a short-term deal works out best for everyone. After living through the Zach Parise/Ryan Suter experiences, Minnesota Wild fans should be familiar with that more so than some other franchises.
While it would be a nightmare for the future of the team if Kaprizov decides he doesn’t want to stay in Minnesota, in the grand scheme of things the rejection of the contract isn’t, in itself, the end of the world. Marco Rossi’s camp rejected a contract that reportedly paid him $5 million a year early in those negotiations and yet he ended up signing for… $5 million.
What changed in that deal? The length of the contract. Instead of the five years that Minnesota initially offered, Rossi signed for three. The same thing might happen with Kaprizov. There is a chance he still signs for $16 million, but instead of eight years, it might be five, or even three.
There is still plenty of time for the two sides to come together and find some common ground. Chances are there will be some meetings once Kaprizov is in town for training camp. If things continue to stall, or more negative reports emerge from those negotiations, then perhaps it’s time to dial up the panic meter.