Kirill Kaprizov brought a refreshed body and mind to the rink for the first day of training camp with the Minnesota Wild, and his easy, boyish smile was not far behind.
All that was missing was a new contract.
After an intense practice and an intrasquad scrimmage at the team's training facility on Thursday, Kaprizov met with reporters for the first time since the Wild were eliminated from the playoffs more than four months ago and tried to assure everyone in the room and around Minnesota he's not looking to leave.
"My agent talks with Billy and the team and it's not my job right now," Kaprizov told reporters. "And I just want to be focused, how I'd say, and be ready for the season and keep playing. And that's it."
He called the Twin Cities area his “second home,” behind his native Russia.
“I like Minny, and everyone knows this. We have a lot of time. It’s just 2025, and it’s one more year I have,” Kaprizov said. "I just want to play hockey and focus and win some games and go in playoffs and win there.”
Though the Wild have long expressed confidence in the completion of a deal, that didn't happen during the summer. General manager Bill Guerin didn't appear to be concerned, though, about the long-term presence of his 28-year-old left wing who's been on a superstar track since his debut in the pandemic-altered 2020-21 season.
“These negotiations are private. I can’t really get into it. Things are fine,” Guerin said. “The most important thing is that we want to sign Kirill. He’s our franchise player. We want to keep him here. He’s a big part of our team. We’re working towards that. We’re doing the best we can. Hopefully we’ll get there sooner than later. But today’s more about the team and getting off on the right foot.”
Unfortunately for Guerin and the Wild, a social media post last week by longtime NHL reporter Frank Seravalli made the process decidedly more public, citing unnamed sources with news that Kaprizov's camp had rejected an offer believed to be for $128 million over eight years that would be the most in league history for total compensation and average annual value.
"It's his life, it's his contract, it's his livelihood," Guerin added. "I'm not gonna be out here telling you guys everything that's going on. It just doesn't help."
Kaprizov could be seeking a shorter deal with a higher average annual value to give him a chance to cash in again. Kaprizov's agent, Paul Theofanous, was at practice on Thursday, speaking at length with assistant general manager Mat Sells. Neither Guerin nor Kaprizov would go anywhere near the generalities of the negotiations, let alone specifics, during their separate media sessions.
“Not everything written on social media is true. Not everything’s false,” Guerin said. “But I can’t help what other people do, and it’s not important. What’s important is our relationship with our players, from Kirill on down. And we can’t let things like that get in the way of our relationship, of our negotiations or business dealings.”
Kaprizov isn't the only high-profile NHL player who arrived at camp this week on an expiring contract. Five-time scoring champion Connor McDavid has not signed a new deal with Edmonton. Neither has Jack Eichel with Vegas. All three of them would be free agents next summer if no extension is reached before then. But that's a long way from now.
“Why wouldn’t we be confident? It’s been a great relationship,” Guerin said. “We love the kid.”
Minnesota hockey legend, and longtime GM of the North Stars Lou Nanne, said none of this is surprising to him.
"He is not signing for $16 million, he's gonna get $18 million whether it's from the Wild or somebody else. So this is no surprise to me," said Nanne. "It's only gonna last for 10 minutes until Connor McDavid signs, unless he gets maximum now. And then next year, somebody else will go by the maximum because the salary cap keeps going up, and that's what the agents are looking at right now."
Kaprizov spent most of the summer in Russia with family and friends, sticking mostly with the same offseason training routine. After missing 40 games during the 2024-25 season because of an unspecified lower-body injury that eventually required surgery, Kaprizov said he's been “a little bit more focused” on his conditioning in light of the frustratingly long absence.
Nanne says Kaprizov's agent will make it a challenge for Guerin and the Wild. He says they need to do everything they can to get Kaprizov to understand what's going on without the agent involved.
"And they have to somehow get to Kirill and try and get a commitment from him," Nanne told WCCO's Chad Hartman. "Or at least, you know, let him know how bad they want him, and they just have to reiterate that. And keep telling them they need him here and they're looking to build the Stanley Cup winner. But it's got to be around him and they don't want to lose him. The agent, whenever they have a talk with him, somehow, some way, they gotta try and get him to agree. But he's difficult."
If he can wait that long to return to the ice, well, he can surely be patient with the status of his contract.
“Just focus on hockey and the camp right now. I just want to be practicing,” Kaprizov said. "We have a lot of time. Just want to practice and get ready for the season and focus on this right now.”