Kirill Kaprizov isn't eligible to sign an extension until July 2025, but Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is already prepared to make the star winger an offer he can't refuse.
"I will tell you nobody will offer more money than us, or longer," Leipold told The Athletic's Michael Russo. "So all we have to do is prove to him that we want to win."
Leipold continued: "So what does he want? He wants to win. So we have to prove to not only to him, but to other UFAs that we also want to win. And we're used to winning. This is the State of Hockey, and we're going to get back to the winning ways. We’re going to get a perennial playoff team, but it does start with Kirill. He's going to be the focus of what we’re going to do. We plan to re-sign him."
The Wild will get a big boost in financial flexibility next summer, as the combined cap hits on the buyouts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise will decrease from $14.7 million to $1.7 million through 2029. Commissioner Gary Bettman recently said preliminary projections for next season's salary cap are set at $92.5 million - a significant jump from this year's $88-million limit.
"Next July 1 is going to be like Christmas," Leipold said. "We're going to have money available. We're going to have the resources available to do what we need to do to get back to Wild hockey. And we're looking forward to that. We look at who could be available next year. You're going to ask me, who are those players? I won't tell you."
Some notable unrestricted free agents next summer include Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, and Brock Boeser.
If the Wild fail to land a big name in the open market, locking up Kaprizov would be just as beneficial. Since making his NHL debut in 2020-21, the 27-year-old ranks 12th in the NHL with 330 points in 278 games.
Kaprizov is already Minnesota's highest-paid player with a $9-million annual cap hit.
The Wild finished sixth in the Central Division last season, missing the playoffs for the only the second time since 2012.
