Elliotte Friedman Drops Bold Take Predicting Wild’s $45,000,000 Star Could Become NHL’s Highest-Paid Player Ever
All eyes in the NHL are on the Minnesota Wild and their star forward Kirill Kaprizov’s contract situation.
The Wild failed to advance past the first round of the playoffs yet again, losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in six games. During the Wild’s end-of-season event on Sunday, there was intense speculation about the franchise’s plans in regard to contracts and trades in the offseason.
NHL Analyst Elliotte Friedman on Kirill Kaprizov’s Potential Contract Extension
Kaprizov, 28, has one season left on his five-year, $45 million contract with the Wild.
Earlier this season, the NHL announced a massive progressive increase in the salary cap over the next three years. The immediate impact of the new cap for the Wild means that President of Hockey Operations Bill Guerin will have around $20 million in cap space to spend. Kaprizov, meanwhile, will be eligible to sign a contract extension on July 1.
During an episode of his ’32 Thoughts’ podcast, Sportsnet analyst Elliotte Friedman noted that the Wild would like to lock Kaprizov down for the future.
“There are people in the league who believe that this will end up being the NHL’s highest-paid player in this next wave of contracts,” Friedman said. He noted that with the cap going up over $100 million, the Wild have an opportunity to cement a franchise cornerstone and build around him.
Friedman also pointed to Kaprizov’s statement during his exit interview on Sunday as an encouraging sign that the player wants to stay with Minnesota.
“Kaprizov said all the right things, basically saying, I don’t see why this can’t work out,” Friedman said. “Let’s keep it optimistic. If he feels that way, then that’s where we’re going to take as our landing point.”
Kaprizov is set to head home to his native Russia for a vacation before returning to the Twin Cities.
“This is my agent’s job. Talk with Billy, but we’ll see. I love everything here, should be all good. I don’t know what to say. We’ll see,” Kaprizov said on Sunday.
Asked about signing a contract extension this summer with the #mnwild, Kirill Kaprizov said that’s his agent’s job to talk with Bill Guerin, “but we will see. I love everything here. But should be all good.” pic.twitter.com/lo4e7pQkk6
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) May 4, 2025
“I feel we played good in the playoffs. I feel how we played, it was pretty good as a team and we had a good chance to go into the second round,” Kaprizov said. “I know it’s bad when you lose in the first round, but I feel for the future we have a nice team.”
The Russian forward’s regular season was truncated due to a lower-body injury that required surgery. He only featured in 41 games and scored 25 goals with 56 points. Kaprizov was the Wild’s best scorer in the playoffs with nine points (five goals and four assists).
