The
Owner Craig Leipold made several public comments over the past few months projecting confidence that the deal could get done, claiming no other team could offer a richer contract than the Wild.
The eight-year deal will be one of the last in the NHL, as the new CBA will limit players re-signing with their own teams to a seven-year maximum deal. Free agents will be capped at six-year deals, rather than seven.
Kaprizov could be the first domino to fall as many pending unrestricted free agents and their representatives were waiting for the market to reset with the new salary cap. Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, is entering the final year of his contract and could become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Jack Eichel and Artemi Panarin are also pending UFAs.
The previous longest and richest contracts in Wild history went to left wing Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter, who signed identical 13-year, $98 million deals on July 4, 2012.
Minnesota has gone 10 consecutive seasons without a playoff series win, the fourth-longest active drought in the NHL behind the Sabres (18), Red Wings (12) and Kings (11).
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
