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  • Kirill Kaprizov Is Grabbing the Torch As the NHL's Best Winger


    Image courtesy of Credit: Nick Wosika
    Tony Abbott

    We wrote about Kirill Kaprizov's incredible start on Thursday. Still, when a player goes out and drops a three-point night to extend their multi-point game streak to seven... what else can you do but marvel about him all over again?

    Kaprizov is refusing to slow down, adding two goals and an assist in the Minnesota Wild's 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The effort bumped Kaprizov back into the NHL lead in points (21), extended his multi-point game streak to seven, and gave Minnesota their sixth win in the past seven games.

    We have to add an addendum to Thursday's piece concerning Kaprizov's start: "Dolla Bill Kirill" is tied with Leon Draisaitl (2021-22) and Thomas Vanek (2013-14) for the fourth-most points through 10 games in the Salary Cap Era. Only Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have had more. Look further down the list, and you'll see titans of the game like Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby looking up at Kaprizov.

    That boggles the mind, and Kaprizov's hot start registers as incredible, even for someone who has spent years watching Malkin and Crosby night in and night out.

    "I think it just proves how good he is, how special he is," Bill Guerin marveled to Hockey Wilderness following Kaprizov's three-point outing. "You don't just do that by accident, either. You see good players get off to strong starts and things like that, but... 10 games, that's a good-sized segment. So have that, not just consistency, but high-level and produce like that is amazing."

    No one could ever accuse Kaprizov of flying under the radar. People have considered him among the NHL's most dynamic wingers since entering the league. Still, he seems to be garnering a new level of attention league-wide this season. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman pinpointed him as a Hart Trophy contender two weeks ago. The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn and Sean Gentille recently floated a trial balloon take that Kaprizov may have surpassed last season's Hart runner-up Nikita Kucherov as the league's best winger.

    And why not? It shouldn't be lost on anyone that Kaprizov's two-goal, one-assist game on Friday is an identical stat line to his October 24 showing at Tampa Bay. In head-to-heads, Kaprizov has a 6-2 point advantage over his countryman Kucherov.

    If we want to keep comparing the two superstar Russians, we can point out that Kaprizov's seventh-straight multi-point game matches Kucherov's career-high streak. The two are tied for the fourth-longest such streak of the Salary Cap Era. Stamkos, McDavid, and Vincent Lecavalier are the only players who can claim a longer one... and if Kaprizov extends his to eight games on Sunday night, that list of players goes down to one. 

    Kaprizov's six power-play points tied him for seventh in the NHL, and he's been even better at 5-on-5 play. His 12 points at 5-on-5 sit on top of the NHL (along with Sam Reinhart), and it's gone a long way to his 14-4 scoring advantage over his opponents when he's on the ice. Only Reinhart is enjoying a higher 5-on-5 goal differential than Kaprizov's plus-10. 

    At this point, what else can you say? Wild fans are watching the best player in franchise history at the height of his powers, and he's putting the rest of the hockey world on notice. It's been a treat to watch, and while 10 games is a good chunk of the season, we've got a lot of time left for Kaprizov to amaze us even more.

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    What I have enjoyed is he has done it in a myriad of ways.

    - super quick PP

    - Insane passes in traffic

    - long stretch passes to breakaways

    - Crashing the net for greasy goals

    - Empty netters 

    He is pretty much good to great at all facets of the game, and is happy to do things the hard way.

     

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    He’s got that dog in him and he’s fun to watch. He’s a big reason why I’ve become a Wild fan.. Well that and hockey is just the best sport to watch. He is basically carrying the team on his back.

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    I’m a Wild fan and I love KK and think he is the best player in the show (my bias). But removing that bias, Kap isn’t at Kuch’s level.. at least just yet. I think he can get there with a strong season showing he elevates players better than Kuch, but at this time, I think it’s a bit premature. Love that he’s getting the respect though, he’s earned it!

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    Its gonna be crushing if he doesn't stick around 😞

    Hopefully the extra year is enough to entice him to give us a shot, in addition to what's looking like a well-laid plan coming to fruition with the roster. Excited to see how this team looks once Yurov, Buium and Wallstedt start making some contributions, assuming they are as advertised. 

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    17 hours ago, Dango said:

    Ive always thought that if you took Neil Broten and combined him with Dino Ciccarelli  you would get Kaprizov

    KK is tough as nails but he has a ways to go before he gets as feisty as Dino.

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    Yurov currently has 10pts in 17 games and is tied for most shots on the team. He's taken nearly 200 faceoffs and has a 50% win rate. If MN keeps winning, their case for keeping him is stronger. Their strength of schedule and handling of adversity so far has been very good. Is Kaprizov getting the right message? He knows what OCL said about salary. If winning is the big idea, MN has a solid feel after 11 games.

    In contrast to last season, we saw a bad start and recovery with Hynes to no avail. This year the Wild look like they took the shortfalls to heart and returned with a determined outlook. LA will be another good test. I'm looking ahead to Nov. 16th. That's when the Wild can make a statement if you ask me. Kaprizov and the Norwegian Hobbit teaming up for multi-point games against Dallas would be encouraging. The Central is always tough. That is one potential reason Kirill might like other options. Carolina, FL, or NYR, seem like the kinds of places that could get him. To be in an easier division gets you further in the playoffs argument. I like Kaprizov in a contract year more than NoJo in a contract season.

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    1 hour ago, Protec said:

    Yurov currently has 10pts in 17 games and is tied for most shots on the team. He's taken nearly 200 faceoffs and has a 50% win rate.

    Yurov was scoreless in his first 2 games coming back from offseason shoulder surgery, and his team was struggling a bit in the 6 games he missed. Since then, he's tallied 5 goals and 5 assists in 15 games and leads the team in +/- by a couple of points at +5.

    I would anticipate some future games where he's accumulating multiple points to get back around, or exceed, his scoring pace from last season. I have little doubt that Yurov will be an upgrade from Johansson even if he isn't a dynamic scorer right away. The faceoff percentage is promising as that was an area he was said to need work from last season.

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    On 11/3/2024 at 6:08 PM, Dango said:

    Ive always thought that if you took Neil Broten and combined him with Dino Ciccarelli  you would get Kaprizov

    I didn’t know who these old guys were, so I looked them up and found out they were pretty good. One of them was even on the 1980 Olympic team. That inspired me to rewatch that Miracle movie. Anyway, comparing Kap to them is a good complement.

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    Kaprizov has backed up his statement that he was embarrassed about not making the playoffs last year. He's extra motivated. Who's going to go along with him? 

    I would suggest Faber, Goose, Boldy, Rossi have elevated their play too. Of course, we were expecting that from all those guys who should have naturally improved. 

    Our main improvement was always going to be internal.

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    1 hour ago, mnfaninnc said:

    Kaprizov has backed up his statement that he was embarrassed about not making the playoffs last year. He's extra motivated. Who's going to go along with him? 

    I would suggest Faber, Goose, Boldy, Rossi have elevated their play too. Of course, we were expecting that from all those guys who should have naturally improved. 

    Our main improvement was always going to be internal.

    There appears to be a full team movement towards making it this year. Seeing drive even from our normal whipping boys.

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