We are very close folks.
According to Minnesota Wild insider Michael Russo for The Athletic, the team and restricted free agent Kirill Kaprizov are very close to an agreement on a hefty contract.
Russo believes the Wild “compromised on term, pretty much at 5-years.” He also reports that he thinks “money is pretty close in $9M AAV range.”
“Now they’re working on a final agreement and structure, which is not gonna be easy.”
While he does mention it won’t be easy, you have to understand that this is as close as we’ve been in this saga for weeks now.
As you may remember, the Wild was scared of losing Kaprizov earlier this month when it was reported that the top rookie had a contract in place in the Kontinental Hockey League. Pressure was on as insider Frank Seravelli reported that CSKA Moscow — with whom Kaprizov played for three seasons before his recent NHL debut — had offered the young forward a one-year deal worth at least $10 million to return to Russia. The eight-figure salary would have kicked in on Sept. 1, but now it seems like Kaprizov is focused on making it work in Minny.
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.
The news that GM Bill Guerin and Kaprizov are closing in on an agreement will overjoy Wild fans with weeks to go until the 2021-22 season.
