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13 hours ago
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Kirill Kaprizov is another one of the NHL superstars entering a contract year.
He might not have quite the name recognition of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, but to the Minnesota Wild and their fans, it's Kaprizov's future who is most on their mind.
There have been reports suggesting he's worth eight years and $120 million, which would work out to $15 million per year.
If he got that, it would surpass Leon Draisaitl for the most annual average value on a deal in NHL history.
He'd likely then be passed by McDavid and/or Eichel, but it'd still be quite an accomplishment.
MORE: Connor McDavid has $45 million reason to look forward to contract negotiations
And thanks to Pro Hockey Rumors' Brennan McClain, we now have a better idea if Kaprizov is worth that money.
Here's the case that McClain lays out:
Kaprizov’s contract demands ultimately come down to one equation. Assuming he’s signed to the $15MM figure, Minnesota must ask if he’s worth 14.4% of their cap for the 2026-27 season, and even less throughout the subsequent years.
It’s a fairly easy equation to sort through. Over the past five years, Kaprizov has been directly involved in 386 goals scored by the Wild. To understand his impact, we can analyze his point contribution to the total number of goals the entire team has scored during that period.
Since Kaprizov began his career, Minnesota has scored 1,197 goals. Factoring in Kaprizov’s contributions, it’s easy to ascertain he’s been involved in 32.2% of the Wild’s goals, despite missing many games due to injuries.
Given that he’s accounted for one-third of the team’s offense since coming into the league, it seems like an easy investment to make for the Wild. Unfortunately, his injuries are cause for concern, and they could become an issue throughout negotiations when agreeing to a final dollar amount.
That's a really smart way of looking at things.
One detail to add: Would the Wild be able to get someone better with the money if they don't pay Kaprizov? It seems unlikely, unless they could somehow swing an Eichel deal.
Kaprizov is coming off a season when he missed 41 games in the regular season due to injury.
He still scored 25 goals and added 31 assists in just 41 games played.
In the 2023-24 season when Kaprizov was healthy for 75 games, he had 46 goals and 50 assists.
Two seasons prior to that, he had 47 goals and 61 assists, both career bests.
Kaprizov is 28 years old. The former fifth-round pick has exceeded all expectations.
Soon, he should have the contract to prove that.
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