Article: The Wild Had An Insidious Appeal This Season

[Chris Schad]

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[ArizonaWildFan]

Has anyone ever heard of Kirby Puckett? He played baseball for a small market MLB team in Minnesota, the State of Hockey, and became the first player in baseball to sign a three million dollar per year contract back in 1989. His team won the world series in 1987 and again in 1991 and his record setting contract was sandwiched in between those two championships, the only two that team has ever won. Sadly, his Hall of Fame career and his life were not nearly as long as they should have been.

Fast forward to the present while taking a lesson from the past. Kirill Kaprizov is set to make nine million dollars in the upcoming season and that ranks him tied for 34th among the highest paid players in the NHL. Why not do something novel and take a page out of the Twins book and make him the highest paid player in the NHL? It looks like $14M is going to be the top number on the current salary list so give him $15 and show him, the team, the fan base, and the entire NHL that you have a great player and you recognize and value him. He's 28 years old so make it a four year offer and give him or the team the opportunity to change directions when the contract expires.

Do it today, be positively proactive and sign the deal on July 1. That is what this player, this team, their fans and the entire NHL deserves. Bill Guerin, put your petty, tough guy, hardball GM mentality and attitude aside for now and do the right thing. The fans will be more forgiving when you make the huge mistake of screwing Marco Rossi over if you get the Kaprizov deal done now.

[Protec]

29 minutes ago, ArizonaWildFan said:

Has anyone ever heard of Kirby Puckett? He played baseball for a small market MLB team in Minnesota, the State of Hockey, and became the first player in baseball to sign a three million dollar per year contract back in 1989. His team won the world series in 1987 and again in 1991 and his record setting contract was sandwiched in between those two championships, the only two that team has ever won. Sadly, his Hall of Fame career and his life were not nearly as long as they should have been.

Fast forward to the present while taking a lesson from the past. Kirill Kaprizov is set to make nine million dollars in the upcoming season and that ranks him tied for 34th among the highest paid players in the NHL. Why not do something novel and take a page out of the Twins book and make him the highest paid player in the NHL? It looks like $14M is going to be the top number on the current salary list so give him $15 and show him, the team, the fan base, and the entire NHL that you have a great player and you recognize and value him. He's 28 years old so make it a four year offer and give him or the team the opportunity to change directions when the contract expires.

Do it today, be positively proactive and sign the deal on July 1. That is what this player, this team, their fans and the entire NHL deserves. Bill Guerin, put your petty, tough guy, hardball GM mentality and attitude aside for now and do the right thing. The fans will be more forgiving when you make the huge mistake of screwing Marco Rossi over if you get the Kaprizov deal done now.

I would mostly agree but match the current highest paid guys. No doubt MN would need the extra dough for other players and Kirill has been great but has yet to lead the league in scoring for an entire season. His health has been somewhat of a question. To me 12-13M is a pretty good number. I don't think that's unfair. Are there other contending teams who would match that price? MN shouldn't hold back but perhaps don't go full handicap the remaining cap space. 

[ArizonaWildFan]

Draisaitl is scheduled to be the highest paid player in 2025-2026 at $14M per year for eight years. Matthews was on top of the 2024-2025  list at $13.25M for four years. Kaprizov is probably not going to take less than $13M or $14M for 8 years and I don't know if you want to lock in a 29 year old (age when contract begins) for eight years, especially one with a history of injuries.

The only way you get a shorter term is to pay more up front like Toronto did with Matthews. At $15M for four years, you are only locked into a 33 rather than a 37 year old in the last year of the contract and are locked into spending $60M rather than $104M (8 yrs at $13M) at the very least. You end up saving $36M (difference between $13M and $15M for four years, which is $8M, subtracted from the difference between the $104M eight year deal and the $60M four year deal.

Kaprizov would jump at the opportunity to be the highest paid player in the NHL and the Wild wouldn't have a mid to late 30's player with term that they may not want (Parise and Suter). If Billy G. jerks KK around between now and July 1 don't be surprised if Kaprizov opts to play his contract out and wait until the 2026 off-season. I guarantee it will cost less to sign him this July 1, even if it makes him the highest paid player in the league.