Article: The Kaprizov Saga Is Putting the Wild Franchise's Credibility On the Line

[Tony Abbott]

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[Citizen Strife]

Winning playoff games matters.  When the Wild figure out how on a consistent basis, I'd love to see i.  That being said, Fiala chased money too and didn't find playoff success with the Kings either.  Winnipeg can house the greatest goalie in recent memory and still nearly get bounced by a Wild-Card team.

Playoff hockey is weird

 

[Burnt Toast]

The St. Louis Blues found a way to break their own playoff drought in a dramatic turnaround season. 2019 Stanley Cup Champions. Small market team also. What I remember most about that team was their strong on ice leadership group. They exuded a “Oh Yes We Can” attitude. I’m a huge ROR guy. I’m not sure they cared about what the rest of the league was thinking about them and I sure hope our players can do the same. 

[0 Stanley Cups]

Great article, very true!  It can all change when and IF, and that's a big IF at the moment, Kaprizov re-signs before training camp starts next week.  I definitely won't be buying any tickets this season until that happens.  I hope he re-signs, I don't want to go back to watching completely mediocre hockey.

[BeanPole Harvester]

My thoughts on what I'm seeing and reading about is this is more about the term being 8 years than anything else.

As we are hearing the contract of 8x16 was rejected. My guess is Kaprizov actually wants a shorter term, maybe 4-5 years, and the Wild want to try and talk him into the longer term of 8.

Time will tell...

[MrCheatachu]

 

[Up North Guy]

28 minutes ago, BeanPole Harvester said:

My thoughts on what I'm seeing and reading about is this is more about the term being 8 years than anything else.

As we are hearing the contract of 8x16 was rejected. My guess is Kaprizov actually wants a shorter term, maybe 4-5 years, and the Wild want to try and talk him into the longer term of 8.

Time will tell...

If that is true, and i have no idea one way or the other, i think the Wild are foolish. i would gladly take a 4-5 year contract vs an 8 year. You get KK through his peak years and are not locked into paying huge dollars for the last few years when his body is probably failing him. He has struggled staying healthy as a youngish player. That will not get better as he ages.

[mnfaninnc]

I'm just not sure that the 4-5 year counteroffer is on the table yet. Yes, Guerin would want him for 8, but there is no indication about the short term deal being taken. Now, here's another possibility, Kaprizov came back with 3 years and Guerin is negotiating for 5. 

Shootah is known for his handshake deals. Here's the thing about that, sometimes you aren't the one giving the handshake deals, sometimes you have to be the taker. What if it was for 3 more years with a handshake extension for 3 more if certain team goals were met? 

I forget who it was who was talking about options, but this might be the closest thing the NHL has to an option. Maybe the 2nd 3 year deal has something in it to be able to move from "contender" status to "front runner or favored" status? 

Or, as I posted earlier, maybe it's a promise to wear sharper looking jerseys!

[Dean]

Friedman on 32 thoughts had some interesting takes on kappy. He didn’t think it was term. Because of kappys injury history , he thinks he would want long contract. He could have just signed the biggest 8 year deal an in 2 years when team sucks , demand a trade. So why go short term in his opinion.  The other thing he kept talking about is the belief an other team is sending smoke signals that there is a bigger deal out there for krill. Tampering basically. Like krill has his eye on a sign and trade.  Who knows how this turns out but it won’t be in the wilds favor. 
   Great article! Spot on. It’s funny Tj oshie in an interview was talking about moving back to Minnesota. How great it was all these retired nhl ers here. Funny they all like to live here in offseason or in retirement but not to come play here.  

[mnfaninnc]

I see a lot of national guys writing on this, but the weird thing is that Russo remains fairly silent. I expected the information to come out from him and that he'd be tweeting or Xing (I don't know what you call it now) updates. 

The Wild don't get a lot of attention from national writers. When reading through their season previews or playoff previews, about the only thing they do is spell a bunch of names correctly but have absolutely no feel for the team. When they make trade proposals, it almost always screws the Wild with something they don't need or someone who isn't interesting. 

So why now do they seem to have the inside scoop? None of them work for the Athletic. Is Russo gossiping to these guys and not writing the scoop himself? I also haven't really seen anything from a Strib writer (is it still Jessi Pierce?). 

I know I don't trust ESPN hockey guys for the scoop, and I really don't trust guys who focus on East Coast and especially Toronto with a scoop. Something here seems to be off balance. If there is tampering, who has confidence that the NHL will do anything about it....or going further, what if the NHL wants Kaprizov in a larger market? 

Pewter, what does your spidey sense tell you about a conspiracy happening?

[Lovehockey]

I hope Wild still signs Kaprisov but like I mentioned number of time before seems to me he just does not want to be in Minnesota Wild. And in this case it does not matter how long or how much. He will get his money in the place he wants to be and if this is a little bit of less it still will be big. I hope I am wrong but listening his interviews - he never said any good word about Wild. Yes he never said anything bad but … So we will see soon. I think Rangers or Tampa the places he would want to be . Florida as well but I don’t think they will change their core

[Burnt Toast]

7 minutes ago, Lovehockey said:

Tampa

Seems like the most likely alternative to extending here in MN. Ever since Tampa unloaded their older core players in the Pred’s trade I’ve been waiting to see why. 

[Kato AK]

And now there are reports that Guerin has asked Kap for a trade list. The story gets better by the day....

[Scalptrash]

Don't the Wild have to have credibility before they can lose it? What was the last big name free agent to sign with the Wild? Zuccarello, five years ago?

Boeser and Nelson didn't even want to come home. 

[0 Stanley Cups]

8 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

What was the last big name free agent to sign with the Wild? Zuccarello, five years ago?

Boeser and Nelson didn't even want to come home. 

Sadly, yes, it was Zuccy brought in by Paul Fenton, BG has yet to get the bat off his shoulders in FA and take a big swing!  The Minnesota Wild are the playoff version of the Buffalo Sabres😔

[Imyourhuckleberry]

2 hours ago, Citizen Strife said:

Winning playoff games matters.  When the Wild figure out how on a consistent basis, I'd love to see i.  That being said, Fiala chased money too and didn't find playoff success with the Kings either.  Winnipeg can house the greatest goalie in recent memory and still nearly get bounced by a Wild-Card team.

Playoff hockey is weird

Yeah, Sidney Crosby has nearly 40 more regular season points over the last 5 seasons compared to Kaprizov(though KK97 is slightly ahead in PPG). Crosby has missed the playoffs 3 years in a row and was ousted in the first round 2 years in a row before that, winning 2 games in each of those first rounds.

Playing at a really high level as an individual doesn't guarantee much. Kaprizov has at least made the playoffs nearly every season and it seems a little odd that Kaprizov would encourage Tarasenko to waive his no trade to come to the Wild if his plan was to be elsewhere.

I understand losing some patience, but the Wild appear to be heading towards more competitive hockey if Kaprizov does end up sticking around. He's a key piece, but if he decides he wants to be elsewhere, then the Wild might need to pivot to a new plan.

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

I see a lot of national guys writing on this, but the weird thing is that Russo remains fairly silent. I expected the information to come out from him and that he'd be tweeting or Xing (I don't know what you call it now) updates. 

The Wild don't get a lot of attention from national writers. When reading through their season previews or playoff previews, about the only thing they do is spell a bunch of names correctly but have absolutely no feel for the team. When they make trade proposals, it almost always screws the Wild with something they don't need or someone who isn't interesting. 

So why now do they seem to have the inside scoop? None of them work for the Athletic. Is Russo gossiping to these guys and not writing the scoop himself? I also haven't really seen anything from a Strib writer (is it still Jessi Pierce?). 

I know I don't trust ESPN hockey guys for the scoop, and I really don't trust guys who focus on East Coast and especially Toronto with a scoop. Something here seems to be off balance. If there is tampering, who has confidence that the NHL will do anything about it....or going further, what if the NHL wants Kaprizov in a larger market? 

Pewter, what does your spidey sense tell you about a conspiracy happening?

It tells me that Peart will be on drums for the next Rush tour before he'll play in the NHL.

[Pewterschmidt]

39 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

Zuccarello, five years ago?

And Paul "it's between y'all" Fenton gets credit for this one.  bill brought us Maroon, Reaves and Trenin in free agency though so there's that.  He has a type.

[Burnt Toast]

35 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

big name free agent

Eric Staal had a few good years as well as MAF with respectable stats. To your point MN is not an NHL destination franchise. That’s ok, it doesn’t mean a team can’t be built to win. We’re looking at ways it can happen. When I get some time I am going to review the years leading up to the St. Louis SC in 2019. Just to see how they did it. 

[Burnt Toast]

43 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

Boeser and Nelson didn't even want to come home. 

Nelson is in a great position playing for the Aves. They are paying him really well and are peaking with their top forwards. I listened to an interview with Boeser’s agent before he extended and he mentioned sometimes playing in your home town can be tough with mostly off ice relational stuff. What exactly that entails I’m not quite sure. My point is it’s more about personal situations etc than about the Wild. Remember there’s 30 other teams they weren’t interested in either. 

[greg]

Kirill has a full no trade contract.  Guerin asks for a list of teams hebwould be willing to get traded to.  It's very possible the Kirill sticks by his no trade clause and leave in free agency to stick it to the wild.