By Tony Abbott -
The end is near. Anytime a market not deemed "desirable" by the hockey world has a star player nearing free agency, the doomsday prophets show up in force. Look at the ongoing situation with people wildly speculating about Connor McDavid, whose contract expires in two seasons.
These rumors are inevitable, whether they turn out to be true (See: Panarin, Artemi) or the player ultimately sticks around (See: Draisaitl, Leon). There are only two ways to stop them: A player signs or leaves. There is no in-between.
The Minnesota Wild aren't going to be immune to those rumors. In fact, they've officially kicked off Wednesday morning. Fans in the State of Hockey -- at least, the ones unfortunate enough to still be using Twitter -- woke up to see this on their feeds:
Oh, no. What had previously been a free-floating dread that something awful might happen was displaced by an actual, concrete NHL "Rumor." This was doubly concerning since the initial version was incorrectly attributed to The Athletic's Joe Smith. But while Mark Lazerus (also of The Athletic) is based out of Chicago, he is very much involved in the national media landscape, so his words have clout.
As panic crept through Minnesota, Lazerus sought to clarify his statement on Twitter.
He was emphatic in his denial that this was coming from Kaprizov or his camp. "Nothing is imminent, nothing is set in stone," the reporter insisted. "Kaprizov is not asking out, nothing like that. Stand down. I didn't intend to imply otherwise."
But that denial isn't the end of the story, and it's not the end of the rumors. Now that the first one is unleashed, prepare to see things like...
Kaprizov, a free agent in the summer of 2026, would look great as a New York Ranger. The Blueshirts offer a Stanley Cup Contender complete with countrymen Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin, as well as being able to shine on the biggest stage of U.S. hockey.
Or...
Would Kaprizov want to relocate to Florida? The Panthers are always contenders, and there's a lineage there with Pavel Bure having made South Beach his home. The weather and no state tax have to be appealing for the star winger.
Or...
Mark Lazerus hinted back in September that Kaprizov might want to jump to Chicago, and the destination makes sense for both sides. Kaprizov can give Connor Bedard a bonafide superstar linemate a center-winger battery that can compete with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, or Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. Meanwhile, Kaprizov would join a wealth of young Blackhawks talent.
This is the world we live in, and it will be that way until Minnesota can lock Kaprizov into a long-term deal. Will that happen? It's hard to say.
Part of it is that we don't know what motivates Kaprizov the most. Is he going to make that choice based on winning? On money? On the best living situation for him? And even if we knew that, we probably can't know his assessment of this team's future and won't until he either signs or tries to find a way out. Anything past that is speculation.
It's hard to imagine that Kaprizov can't break the bank here. Draisaitl is making $14 million against the cap, and you have to imagine that's the starting point for an agent. While that's a hefty price, we're really only talking about a $5 million per season investment over what he's making now. The Wild can probably talk themselves into that, even if they're skittish about the number.
The bigger concern, at least the one that's in Minnesota's control (assuming Wild ownership and Bill Guerin can't terraform St. Paul into a San Jose/Miami-esque beach paradise or whatever) is the part about winning. We spoke yesterday about how the knock on Kaprizov in the eyes of the league is that we haven't seen him on the biggest stage, working with premier players. Is that going to change this year?
Minnesota had better hope so. Because if Boldy can be a fantastic running mate to Kaprizov -- and Guerin has said that Boldy can score 50 goals and 50 assists in this league -- and propel Kaprizov and the Wild to new heights, it might be an easy sell to keep the star around. Especially since they have young Russian players coming in Danila Yurov and Marat Khusnutdinov, and we know that Kaprizov values playing with his countrymen.
If not? Minnesota could still convince him to stay, but there are no certainties... Except for us be seeing a steady stream of doomsday reports and rumors, that is.
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