Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov will be one of the NHL’s highest paid players says insider.
The National Hockey League may soon have another superstar that will break the $100 million barrier when it comes to contract value, at least that is what one NHL insider is saying on Monday.
During the most recent episode of his podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed his belief that Minnesota Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov is destined to be among the league’s highest paid players when his next contract is officially signed.
“I don’t look at Kaprizov as he doesn’t have a trophy or he doesn’t have 120 points in a season, I look at what that team looks like if he is not there and how important he is to that team and that organization,” began Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.
Friedman also added that Kaprizov’s history with the team, and the investment the Wild have made in the player, will both be big contributing factors to how much he earns on his next deal as well.
“He’s a Wild,” said Friedman. “They drafted him, a steal, they brought him over… they have invested him and he is one of theirs. That is a Minnesota Wild success story.”
So what will the actual dollar amount look like when it is all said and done? As I mentioned Friedman expressed his belief that Kaprizov will be among the highest paid players in the entire NHL and the insider used two gigantic comparables to drive his point home.
“When I say that I think he’s gonna be in the [Auston] Matthews [Leon] Draisaitl range I believe that,” said Friedman. “I think this guy is gonna be one of the top paid players in the league because I think the Wild know that if he hits the market everyone is going to be chasing after him and he’s that important to their franchise.”
It doesn’t sound like this will be a contentious issue either with Friedman indicating that the Wild will be happy to keep Kaprizov in the fold long term, even at a massive number.
“To me this is gonna be a massive number and they will happily pay the massive number because they know he’s worth that to them,” said Friedman.
