Bill Guerin's latest comments will make Minnesota Wild fans smile

In case you've not heard, fans of the Minnesota Wild have been collectively holding their breath regarding the future of NHL Rookie of the Year Kirill Kaprizov, who reportedly has a tentative offer of least $10 million with a Kontinental Hockey League team in Russia if he can't reach a new deal with the Wild by Sept. 1 after having played just one season in North America. 

The Calder winner led rookies in goals (27), points (51), power-play goals (eight) and shots on goal (157) in 55 games. He was second in even-strength points (38) and power-play points (13) and was tied for third in plus/minus rating (plus-10). On top of that, he led Wild in goals, points, points per game (0.93) and overtime goals (two), and scored three game-winning goals. Kaprizov, who averaged 18:18 of ice time per game and had a shooting percentage of 17.2 percent, scored the most goals, assists and points by a rookie in Wild history.

Earlier today, the Wild took care of another important matter of business, re-signing forward Kevin Fiala to a one-year contract worth $5.1 million, a deal that he hoped would have been longer. However, the important thing is that he's officially under contract for at least one more season, and another longer-term deal can be worked out later. 

However, there still remains the matter of Kaprizov. Does Guerin have anything new to report on that important front? 

“Not really,” he said.

However, there's still plenty of time to get a deal worked out between the two sides.

“I think things are going well enough,” Guerin said. “We still have lots of time. There’s no rush or panic. I’m in constant communication with Karill’s agent, and we continue to move forward.”

So, does Guerin anticipate signing Kaprizov to a similar short-term deal like Fiala?

“No, (the deal) will be longer," he said.

The Wild are scheduled to begin training camp on September 23 and have their first preseason game scheduled for September 25 at Scotttrade Center in St. Louis against the Blues.