NHL Rumors: Minnesota Wild – Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala

Kaprizov will be involved in contract talks

Michael Russo of The Athletic: Pending RFA Kirill Kaprizov will be the Minnesota Wild’s top priority this offseason. Jared Spurgeon is the highest-paid Wild player for now.

The Wild have 14 players under contract for next year with $22 million in cap space. GM Bill Guerin will be reaching out Kaprizov’s camp real soon, and Kaprizov will be more involved.

“I definitely plan on being a little bit more involved (in contract talks),” Kaprizov said through a translator before returning home to Russia on Wednesday. “I’m hoping we can discuss everything together and see what the best option is. (We’ll) think through everything and make sure it’s the right decision for me and the team and everything.”

Term will play a big part in talks. If the Wild won’t go above $8.5 to $9 million on an eight-year deal, the 24-year old Kaprizov may prefer to go in the four to six-year range and go bigger on his next deal. The Wild won’t want to sign him for one to three years.

The Wild hope to lock up Kaprizov, Eriksson Ek and Fiala to long-term deals

Jessi Pierce: Wild GM Bill Guerin would like to get RFA forward Kirill Kaprizov signed to a long-term deal.

“We love Kirill, I don’t think there’s any secret there, and what he’s brought to our team,” Guerin said. “We will do what we can to get a fair deal.

“We’d prefer a longer deal. There’s two sides to the coin. You have to be open-minded. Like I said, it’s a process, so there’s some going back and forth and things like that.”

Kaprizov is a Calder Trophy finalist after leading the Wild in goals, points, points per game, and OT goals.

Guerin also has to deal with pending RFAs Joel Eriksson Ek and Kevin Fiala. He hopes on signing long-term deals for those two.

“We see those guys being here long-term,” Guerin said. “They’re part of the foundation of this organization and our team. You could see it on the ice that they’re — whether they like it or not, I know they’re young players — but they’re leaders on our team. And they provided us with a lot on both sides of the puck. So, yeah, they’re a priority.”