The rising salary cap was expected to welcome a series of moves in free agency and in the trade market. As it turns out, teams figured out that a rising cap just means there’s more money on the table to retain your best players.
That is exactly what the Minnesota Wild are aiming to do with Kirill Kaprizov, who is entering the final year of his five-year, $45 million contract.
Per multiple reports, Minnesota put an offer on the table for Kaprizov, one that would have set an NHL record for the richest in league history.
Kirill Kaprizov Turns Down Mammoth Contract Extension
By all accounts, Kaprizov is set to land the biggest contract in NHL history.
According to NHL insider Frank Seravalli, the Wild did just that, putting an offer of eight years and $128 million on the table for Kaprizov. Surprisingly, the five-time All-Star chose to reject that offer outright.
At $16M a year, the $128 million deal would have also been the largest in NHL history in terms of average annual value. Oilers star Leon Draisaitl’s $112M deal currently holds that label with an annual cap hit of $14 million.
Sources say #mnwild superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s camp turned down an extension offer believed to be 8-years, $128 million in a meeting on Tuesday in Minnesota that would have made him the highest-paid player in #NHL history in both AAV ($16 million) and total dollars.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 10, 2025
Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold was earlier optimistic about getting a deal done with the face of his franchise. “I just feel that we’re not that far off,” Leipold said in an interview. “I kind of think we’re there. I like to believe when Kirill comes over and gets a sense again for the excitement and love of the city, I think we’ll be moving forward in a good direction.”
As things stand, the Wild have until July 1 next year, which is when Kaprizov will become an unrestricted free agent. He also has a no-move clause in his contract, complicating matters for the franchise.
However, most industry insiders expect Kaprizov and the Wild to reach an agreement well before next year.
When fit, Kaprizov is electric on the ice, having scaled the 40-goal barrier thrice already. However, he is just coming off a season where he missed 41 games owing to a lower-body injury. Before suffering the injury, Kaprizov was having a borderline Hart Trophy-type of year.
Kirill Kaprizov turning down $16M per year over eight years is veryyyyy interesting pic.twitter.com/Xuq2nBnKnP
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) September 10, 2025
The hope is that the Wild open up their purse strings to keep their superstar forward in town since there’s likely to be a long list of suitors if he decides to look for greener pastures.
Until Kaprizov signs on the dotted line, the franchise will have to entertain the nightmare prospect of losing Kaprizov for nothing next summer, just like with Marian Gaborik way back in 2009.
