Kirill Kaprizov is staying put and setting the market. The Wild have announced an eight-year extension for their superstar winger that will pay out a record-setting AAV of $17MM through the 2033-34 campaign. That’s a total value of $136MM. He was previously slated to hit the unrestricted free agent market following the 2025-26 season.
All but $8MM of that $136MM figure will come via signing bonuses, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports, along with an expected full no-movement clause for the duration of the deal. His base salary will only be $1MM per season. He will earn an $18.1MM bonus on July 1 from 2026-29 before that number drops to $16MM for 2030, $14.2MM for 2031, and $12.7MM for 2032 and 2033. It doesn’t change the cap picture for the Wild, but it does make the deal essentially buyout-proof, since signing bonus money is not affected by buyouts. Signing bonus money also carries more projectable tax rates since it’s taxed at the rate of a player’s primary residence, whereas base salary is taxed depending on the location of games. As PuckPedia notes, this structure could result in an increased cap hit for Kaprizov in the latter years of the deal since the league minimum salary is expected to increase beyond $1MM past 2030.
It will be the largest deal in NHL history by measure of total value as well, finally breaking the record Alex Ovechkin set with his 13-year, $124MM extension nearly two decades ago. Of course, the institution of an eight-year maximum extension length in the 2013 CBA prevented a deal from eclipsing that total value for quite some time. It’s also a drastic jump in terms of record-setting AAVs. Just over a year ago, Leon Draisaitl’s extension with the Oilers, which carries a $14MM cap hit, set the mark. That’s a 21.4% increase in the league’s highest AAV in less than 13 months, far greater than the 8.9% increase the salary cap is projected to see next season.
It’s an important resolution after news leaked a few weeks ago that Kaprizov rejected an eight-year, $ 16MM AAV offer from Minnesota, which would have also been the largest contract in league history. While it would have been just a minor setback in talks if it had been contained, the information being made public understandably created an uncomfortable dynamic for both sides entering the season. The Wild had to lay heavy on the damage control front over the past several days as a result, rejecting speculation that they had asked for his trade list (he has an NMC as part of his expiring deal) amid concerns they might lose him for nothing next summer.
Instead, Kaprizov’s camp, led by TMI’s Paul Theofanous, gets the happy ending they hoped for – a scenario they thought out when only negotiating a five-year deal when his entry-level contract expired in 2021. Kaprizov, an age-28 season that sits right at the top of the aging curve, is never going to have a higher market value than he has today. It’s unlikely he would have been able to net much more than $17MM on the open market, either – a deal that would have netted him considerably less guaranteed cash because of the seven-year cap on UFA signings compared to extensions.
While Kaprizov is the lifeblood of Minnesota’s offense and inarguably the best talent in franchise history, it’s a tad jarring to see his name now atop the list of the league’s highest-paid players. He’s an elite scorer and the top left-winger in the game at the moment. Still, his points-per-game production over the past few seasons (1.24 since 2022-23) simply isn’t on par with names like Connor McDavid (1.71), Nathan MacKinnon (1.58), Nikita Kucherov (1.57), or even Draisaitl (1.47). Yet his deal takes up 16.35% of the salary cap at its start, higher than each of those names’ current deals did when they were signed.
It’s nonetheless a necessary price to pay for the Wild, who still have a considerable amount of financial flexibility moving forward and can ensure their top player remains with the club throughout their contention window, which is only just beginning with multiple promising under-25 talents in the organization yet to reach their stride fully. As recent first-rounders like Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Danila Yurov, and Zeev Buium develop into their primes, they’ll be doing so with Kaprizov in his late 20s and early 30s, still at the top of his game.
Kaprizov did not have that same billing. He’s one of the great draft steals of the era, falling to the Wild in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. He spent the following five years developing into a star in his native Russia, earning five consecutive KHL All-Star selections during that period while twice leading the league in goals. He also clinched a gold medal for Russia at the Winter Olympics in 2018. After reaching new heights with a career-high 33 goals and 62 points in 57 games for CSKA Moscow in 2019-20, Kaprizov finally made the jump to Minnesota and kicked off his NHL career with the COVID-shortened 2021 season.
He was an immediate star, posting a 27-24–51 scoring line in 55 appearances to lead the Wild, taking home Calder Trophy honors and finishing 15th in MVP voting. That’s the only season of his five-year NHL career so far where he hasn’t managed to reach the point-per-game mark.
Last season was on pace to be a career-best. If healthy, he would have hit the 100-point mark for the first time since hitting 108 in his sophomore year. Unfortunately, a lower-body injury he sustained around Thanksgiving resulted in him being in and out of the lineup for the remainder of the campaign and eventually going under the knife. He finished with a 25-31–56 scoring line in 41 games, on pace for 50 goals and 112 points if he played a full 82. That would have placed him third in the league in scoring behind Kucherov and MacKinnon.
Playing that full 82 is something Kaprizov has never done, though, and that’s where the most significant risk lies in such a rich bet on his future. After missing only one game each in his first two seasons, Kaprizov has now missed 63 games over the past three years – over a quarter of Minnesota’s games. An upper-body injury caused him to miss seven games in 2023-24, while a leg injury took away 14 games during the 2022-23 campaign.
Even with Kaprizov taking up such a significant amount of space, the Wild still have over $23MM in projected cap space for next season with 16 roster spots already accounted for, per PuckPedia. The quickly-rising cap, plus making it through the most impactful years of the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, has left the Wild with enviable flexibility. They have three core pieces – Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber – signed through at least the end of the decade as well.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes first broke the news that an extension was imminent. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added that it was an eight-year term with a cap hit north of $16MM.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
OOF, this is going to be one heck of an overpay
It’s almost like most of you simply don’t understand even basic economics, let alone the economics of professional sports. But please keep posting. Your clan is amusing to watch.
Like buying fast food at the Airport.
Worth it if only for the fact that losing him to free agency would be much worse.
It’s Ryan Sutter/Zach Parise all over
literally combined in one contract lol
Why have there been so many bumps in the road for NHL hockey in Minnesota?
this contract AAV to performance will never balance, biggest overpay in the league given its by $5M+
Kirill Kaprizov for $17M AAV?!? Wow! That’s a steep price and significant overpay. In one regard, I understand why Minnesota did it because Kaprizov is the biggest star in the franchise’s history. In another regard, Minnesota has had a hard time attracting top talent to the franchise, so any top talent they can keep, they’ll overpay to keep them apparently.
Now, is Kaprizov worth this price? Nope, not at all especially for a player who has an injury history from what I recall and hasn’t really benefited them in helping them get remotely close to a Cup in their franchise’s history. Kaprizov‘s deal has blown the market now and resets it, as it’s going to be interesting how this plays out with other big deals moving forward.
I bet he demands a trade in 2 years if the Wild can not advance past the 2nd round. More likely a 1st round out this year again if they can’t get better centers. Their D is going to be awesome very soon though.
Overpay in first and maybe second year but massive underpay in years three through six since as cap rises his portion will be so much lower. Much better investment than Draisatl and Kucherov
I highly doubt it will ever be considered an underpay and it will never be a “massive” underpay. Unless the cap rises to $200M by year 4. Even then still not a massive underpay.
@Never Remember – Kucherov and Draisaitl are better than Kaprizov. Just on PPG alone they’re better than Kaprizov.
You should be able to tell if he is there for himself or the team in the first 10 games.
People complain that mid-tier teams don’t do enough to compete. Well, here is Minnesota tying up their best player to a long-term deal, so at least give them credit for that.
I think this is a reasonable and justifiable overpayment. You’re not getting premier free agents to come to Minnesota. You can fill out the roster with developed talent and squeeze them, like they did with Rossi contract.
Still not a serious cup contender, but a perennial playoff team.
Now McDavid is gonna want 20 Million a year
$17.1M per 3yrs for McD
With the KK overpay, Wild will still have over $24M to sign 8 next year, not gonna handcuff them at all!
3 mil per guy there Johnny
Hope he likes playing with 3rd/4th liners!
I have to imagine every other GM is cursing out Guerin a bit today. I love Kirill but this is obviously going to seep into any future contracts across the league.
Imagine how many good players the Wild could get for 136 million dollars, Safety in numbers, And, After this epic contract is signed, The Wild aren’t necessarily closer to the ultimate goal, The organization has a ton of work to do at the center position, The blueline is aging quickly, And, they don’t have the goaltending that gets them deep into the playoffs.
We can all feel this is an overpay. Right now it is but three years from now it will be a going rate contract and 6 years from now it will be an overpayment. Look the guy can flat out play and is a top 10 player in the league. Once McJesus signs his new deal this contract amount will be all forgotten. Take a moment to look around the league. Are the deals being handed out really reflect the true value of a player? 60 point guys are getting 8-9 million.
Elite offensive talent will always get top dollar in this league. Be happy if your team has such a talent.
Facts are just facts. In a Salary Cap league where the salary cap goes up owners will overpay for their best players. It’s happened in every sport. Star players usually translate into Playoff wins. Will he be worth it? Who knows but I surely knew he was going to be overpaid. And there will be more, Count on it.
Absolute joke of a contract. Kirill is not even a top-5 player in the league and now he is the highest paid; this will certainly haunt the Wild for years to come.