GM Bill Guerin attempts to calm Wild fans on negotiations with Kirill Kaprizov
With the threat of a return to the KHL looming over the negotiations with budding star Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin appears to be trying to calm the situation down as best he can.
"Guerin says 'things are going well enough' with Kaprizov and 'we continue to move forward,'" said The Athletic's Michael Russo after speaking with the GM.
Guerin told Russo there has been "constant contact" with Kaprizov's agent, and he believes his new deal will be for longer than Kevin Fiala's, who just signed a one-year contract with Minnesota. As for the rumours of a tentative deal with CSKA Moscow of the KHL, Guerin said he's not worried about it.
"It's not my decision. Doesn't bother me at all," he told Russo.
Guerin is likely being somewhat disingenuous with that statement. Minnesota seems on the verge of turning things around in the long-term, especially after the buyouts of Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. If Kaprizov ends up leaving for the KHL until he's an unrestricted free agent, those buyouts will have been somewhat wasted in the grand scheme of things. To truly get back into contention, Kaprizov needs to be signed. The issue is that Kaprizov wants a short-term deal so he can become an unrestricted free agent sooner and likely sign another contract for more money when the salary cap starts going up again. The Wild obviously want to lock him in for as long as possible.
The offer for Kaprizov back home in Russia is rumoured to be eight figures, meaning $10 million plus for one year. While the highest salary in the KHL currently is less than $2 million per season, star players get paid in bonuses that are completely off the books and don't count towards the league's cap. It's the only way the league can keep some of these players and still give the impression of parity among teams. Some players are rumoured to be receiving bonuses that far outweigh what they are getting in salary.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||