Report: Kirill Kaprizov has already rejected two lucrative offers from Minnesota Wild
After an excellent first season in the NHL, the Minnesota Wild are looking to lock-up forward Kirill Kaprizov to a long-term deal. According to a report from Wild Insider Micheal Russo of The Athletic, the Wild have thrown big money at Kaprizov, but he has rejected the offers.
"My gut says they were offering around $9 million on an 8 year deal and probably $8.5 [million] or $8 [million] on a 7 year deal," said Russo on the Daily Faceoff podcast. "Right now that has not only not been accepted but its been pretty much rejected from Kaprizov's camp. So this is like one of the first negotiations I have ever covered where the team is throwing the world at a player that has played 55 games and he's like 'No I want a lot less money and a lot less term.'"
As Russo states, is isn't about the money for the Kaprizov camp. At least not right now. He wants something short-term in the hopes that the salary cap will go up in the next three to five years and he can walk into an even bigger payday at that time. Wild GM Bill Guerin is obviously aware of that, hence the attempts to get him to sign a seven or eight year contract. It is interesting to note that Kaprizov is using the same agent as fellow Russian Artemi Panarin, who used a similar negotiating tactic with Chicago to get a short-term deal that eventually landed him huge money with the New York Rangers.
Kaprizov managed 27 goals and 51 points in 56 games this past season, which earned him the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year at 24 years old. He seems well on his way to becoming a star in the NHL.
