Article: Kaprizov, the Wild, and the NHL’s Growing Tampering Question

[Robert Brent]

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[NoJoSux]

So MN exits historic cap penalties and finds itself in the midst of a tampering, slash, owner-blabbermouth drama of historic proportions. Sounds about right... 

[goenzoy]

Well the tampering was brough about by Wild themselve with their off season behavior . Also Kaprisov can read score sheets . 

Rossi did an excellent season and they underpaid him 

He got 4 when other players with similar numbers got 6 or 7 million 

So if I m Kaprisov and my own contract is portrayed as only a "return flight from Moscow away" I m at least curios what other teams are offering just to compare to Wild offer and asking my agent to have ears like "Dumbo" 

Same goes with teambuilding in general or maybe also situations like teams pushing for players when returning from injury 

The paycheque is not a gamechanger when you are aware that next team down the road would offer similar numbers 

[Pewterschmidt]

1 hour ago, goenzoy said:

paycheque

Is there a frenchie in our midst

[Willy the poor boy]

2 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

So MN exits historic cap penalties and finds itself in the midst of a tampering, slash, owner-blabbermouth drama of historic proportions. Sounds about right... 

Out of the frying pan and into the fire...

[mnfaninnc]

1 hour ago, goenzoy said:

Well the tampering was brough about by Wild themselve with their off season behavior . Also Kaprisov can read score sheets . 

Rossi did an excellent season and they underpaid him 

He got 4 when other players with similar numbers got 6 or 7 million 

So if I m Kaprisov and my own contract is portrayed as only a "return flight from Moscow away" I m at least curios what other teams are offering just to compare to Wild offer and asking my agent to have ears like "Dumbo" 

Same goes owith teambuilding in general or maybe also situations like teams pushing for players when returning from injury 

The paycheque is not a gamechanger when you are aware that next team down the road would offer similar numbers

But, isn't most of this the definition of tampering? How would Paul T. know if someone else was interested unless there was tampering? Is he sitting in the Rangers' GM office and talking about Panarin and then just asks "so, what would you pay Kaprizov if he was, let's say, available?" 

And, if this gets out about Paul T., does the agent get banned? It's hard to know the market price for a guy when you get to this level. $16m is unchartered territory, and with the cap raising it's even further darkened. 

Of course, none of us are behind the closed doors of the negotiation, but you'd think that a counter offer would be made by Paul T. It could very well be that he wants to wait for the cap to go up so he can make the best deal, but if other clubs are "interested," that's simply tampering. 

Also, you don't want this to be a situation like the Micah Parsons contract either where Jerrah just kind of disrespected the agent and offended Micah. I think a little bit of understanding needs to come from Paul T. though as we were quite stung by the Gaborik departure. 

Once upon a time, there used to be something known as the Twins' curse. A player who left the club for "greener pastures" typically bottomed out, or worse in the case of Lyman Bostock. It also wasn't like Gaborik after leaving set the world on fire in NY. I just thought I'd throw that out there just in case it had legs and anyone was superstitious. 

[mnfaninnc]

Getting into the cuts, I'm still surprised to see Johnson still on the roster. Lambos being sent down, to me, indicates they want to see a bit more of Johnson AND Brodin is ahead of schedule on his return. 

I'd still rather have Brodin-Jiricek partners and Buium-Spurgeon partners. I'd let Bogo be the 7th, but, I do wonder if Bogo is wanting that role or may want to move on to somewhere where he can play? Would Johnson make a good 7th D, but a callup of Lambos happens if there is an extended injury where he draws in and plays? 

I'm still thinking the Wild start the regular season with 22, or if they need to sneak Cal through waivers, they wait and he'll be 23. I had wanted Lambos to take over that 3rd pair left side IF Brodin was still sidelined. Looks like that may not be the case.

[mnfaninnc]

This made me mad.

Quote

 

Rising cap changes position Kaprizov, the Wild, and others

TSN: Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is confident that GM Bill Guerin can get a deal done with Kirill Kaprizov. The rising salary cap is complicating things.

“That’s a lot of new money in the system that, frankly, a year or two ago we certainly had no idea was going to be available,” Leipold said. ”So, it does change things, but we have to change with it.”

OCL, you had no idea that this new money was going to be available???????

Even us amateur armchair GMs knew this money was coming, it was obvious with the new tv deals!!!!!!!

How does a successful businessman such as yourself not have a pretty good indication as to what is going to happen with the cap 5 years out??????? This would have been discussed behind closed doors in the governors meetings!!!!! All owners know this was going to happen!!!!!!!

Don't try to pull the wool over our eyes and claim cluelessness!!! Nobody is buying it!!!! If you're going to lie to us about this, what else are you lying about??????

[NC Beach Bum]

I didn't watch NHL for a long time cause you couldn't find the games on TV for a lot of years it seems, the last few years I've been able to watch and got renewed interest in the Wild. I thought like probly most fans that buyout cap hell ending would bring the ability for the Wild to be competitive but after watching the league allow abuse of rules and norms such as Vegas and their "creative" use of IR rules that let them circumvent the salary cap and now whispers of tampering with Kaprisov I'm not sure I want to be emotionally invested anymore. 

[WheelSnipeCelly]

1 hour ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Is there a frenchie in our midst

Or perhaps from Canada, UK, Australia, NZ, India, or really anywhere else in the world besides the US — I think most folks learn UK English in other countries over US English.

[FredJohnson]

Any idea which teams are tampering/whispering? (Chicago?)

[NoJoSux]

If you asked me, the tampering questions are just the easiest explanation to give if Kaprizov did indeed reject the initial contract offer. This seems to be more true although initially there was a denial from the Wild. After all, MN would have made an offer by now. Kaprizov isn't signed, so there's a pretty good chance it's not rumor but true. 

Now, did he reject cause he wants out of MN? Tampering possible? Is he waiting to see what happens with other big name guys? All three things are possible, but there's no way OCL or GMBG would publicly admit they're losing the plot. 

They've been outspoken. In this case OCL's comments did not help, and never needed to be said at all. If there is indeed teams floating offers and it screws the Wild, I don't think anyone would be surprised. Blame-game will ensue. NHL will say, nothing can be proven. 

It's a business right? We always hear that. Top talent wants to be on a winning team. The Wild are perennial losers.

[FredJohnson]

Take a page from the Rossi situation: Billy needs to make it known to all the FMs that any team that signs KK for more than 16 MM will get a full "investigation". 

[AKwildkraken]

2 hours ago, Pewterschmidt said:

Is there a frenchie in our midst

I'm guessing Switzerland as Gonzoy seemed to be pretty well informed on Rossi's summer actives this off-season.

[Fortis]

Kaprizov has a full No-Movement clause in his current contract. I seriously doubt that trading him (as many of these articles suggest is an alternative) is even an option for the Wild. He turned down the most lucrative contract proposal in NHL history, and he is not even in the top 5 NHL players in the league right now. Clearly he wants to be on a winning team; a team that is a REAL Stanley Cup contender. Why would Kaprizov agree to be traded to a team that is giving up substantial assets for him - making them less competitive than if they sign him for free - when he could just wait and sign with them as a free agent in the summer?

Edited Tuesday at 02:17 AM by Fortis

[Scalptrash]

How long before the fans turn on Kaprizov, for being greedy, and start booing him? He and his agent are the most complicit if there is any tampering.

[mnhockeyfan03]

25 minutes ago, Scalptrash said:

How long before the fans turn on Kaprizov, for being greedy, and start booing him? He and his agent are the most complicit if there is any tampering.

I am already there.  Will be booing everytime he touches the puck and causing me to look for another team to cheer for like Colorado or Utah. The Wild should not put up with his BS and have a backbone.  No one player is worth this.  Guy acting like a prima donna and I have hope they have asked for his team trade list.  He needs to be gone before season.  And take McNugget (zuccy) with him

[Dango]

I think the fans are going to mostly be concentrated on the game itself and how the team plays , they might boo the power play or some other part of the game but i dont think they will boo Kaprizov about his contract status ,  if he leaves i could see him getting booed next year as a visitor ,  Were pretty strong opinion here but its not the same at the arena . 

[BillieGismylover]

I love Kaprizov. I’d rather get picks and young prospects than lose him for nothing. I also don’t want a repeat of Parise/Suter. Sorry but if dolla bill Kirill doesn’t want to play hear for a record contract I don’t want to play the game he and his gm are playing. Also thanks Craig for taking away all our negotiating power by telling the hockey world no one will out bid us. Great move.

[MacGyver]

If there is tampering it most likely is coming from the Rangers. Artemi Panarin and Kaprizov have the same agent and Panarin is also due for a new contract. So Theofanus has been around the Ranger's offices just as he has been around the Wild's. How would you ever prove tampering? Do the Wild plant a bug in Thefanus's suit and record his conversations? 

I do recall reading something that Kaprisov and Panarin are quite friendly so perhaps the agent has been exploring the possibility of the two winding up on the same team? Theofanaus has been around a long time and has a reputation of getting his clients the most money possible. He does not get pushed around by GM's he is the alpha agent to Billy's alpha GM. He is also not stupid enough to do any tampering in a way that will expose him. 

We will know in nine days if Kaprisov is staying or going. Every day that passes without him signing a contract the less likely he stays imo. 

[FredJohnson]

9 hours ago, NoJoSux said:

It's a business right? We always hear that. Top talent wants to be on a winning team. The Wild are perennial losers.

It's a professional sports league...it's entertainment. Every team would have the same chance to win if not for $hit like this. I jokingly say/post that sports are rigged. As with all the pro leagues (and high profile  amateur sports), popular teams and players get beneficial calls and rules.

[M_Nels]

9 hours ago, Scalptrash said:

How long before the fans turn on Kaprizov, for being greedy, and start booing him? He and his agent are the most complicit if there is any tampering.

I was saying boo-urns...

Seriously, I won't boo him unless he leaves and comes back as a visitor ala Suter. I'm getting fed up with the whole thing honestly. If he doesn't want to be here let him go and get some assets on the way back.

Have heard since Kirill signed that his most important thing is winning a cup, well no s*** every player that plays in the league wants to. I don't know of a superstar that would be like "welp guys, I'm tickled to be here on a bottom feeding team."

If he is really all about winning and he likes it in Minnesota as much as he's come out and said then he should sign a team friendly deal so there's more room for another asset at the TDL.  

[M_Nels]

11 hours ago, mnfaninnc said:

Getting into the cuts, I'm still surprised to see Johnson still on the roster. Lambos being sent down, to me, indicates they want to see a bit more of Johnson AND Brodin is ahead of schedule on his return. 

He's still on the roster but he hasn't been officially signed off of his PTO.

[0 Stanley Cups]

57 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

If there is tampering it most likely is coming from the Rangers. Artemi Panarin and Kaprizov have the same agent and Panarin is also due for a new contract. So Theofanus has been around the Ranger's offices just as he has been around the Wild's.

Even though Panarin and Kaprizov have the same agent, I'm not sure they both wind up on the Rangers next year.  Panarin is also UFA next season and could've re-signed by now, and NYR has a different GM in Drury than the one who originally signed Panarin.  There was a scandal and settlement involving Panarin and former team employee last season, I would bet Drury moves on from Panarin next year to resolve locker room distractions, but Shesterkin and Gavrikov will still be there.  There is a strong russian community in New York City that could draw Kaprizov, but their roster is getting older.

[Scalptrash]

10 hours ago, mnhockeyfan03 said:

Will be booing everytime he touches the puck and causing me to look for another team to cheer for like Colorado or Utah.

Funny, I had already decided early this summer to start following Utah. I really like their roster and what they are doing. They will be a very fun team to watch. And....they'll win a cup before the Wild, I'd bet money on it.