Wild owner ready to splurge with cap space, extend Kaprizov next summer
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While the NHL salary cap appears slated for a jump next summer, the Minnesota Wild will be flush with more than $13 million cleared by a drop in dead cap space on their books.
The Wild have $14.7 million in dead cap this season as a result of their buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in 2021. Their combined cap hits will drop to just $1.67 million next season and Wild owner Craig Leipold is ready to start spending.
“Next July 1 is going to be like Christmas,” Leipold told Michael Russo of The Athletic. “We’re going to have money available. We’re going to have the resources available to do what we need to do to get back to Wild hockey. And we’re looking forward to that. We look at who could be available next year. You’re going to ask me, who are those players? I won’t tell you.
“But we know who they are, and we don’t know whether they’ll end up signing with their current teams or they become UFAs. But we’ve got a list, and if they’re available, we’re going to go after them. And we feel like we’re going to be able to get one or two really good players to add on to this team.”
While the Wild plan to active in free agency, the team's top priority will be signing star forward Kirill Kaprizov to an extension when he becomes eligible on July 1.
The 27-year-old winger is signed through the 2025-26 season at a cap hit of $9 million. He reached the 40-goal mark for the third straight time last season, posting 46 goals and 96 points in 75 games. He was listed at No. 15 on TSN's Top 50 Players list for the upcoming season.
Leipold vowed to Russo that the Wild will not be outbid for the Russian's services and their focus will be on building a winner around him.
“So what does he want? He wants to win.” Leipold said. “So we have to prove to not only to him, but to other UFAs that we also want to win. And we’re used to winning. This is the State of Hockey, and we’re going to get back to the winning ways. We’re going to get a perennial playoff team, but it does start with Kirill. He’s going to be the focus of what we’re going to do. We plan to re-sign him.
“I will tell you nobody will offer more money than us, or longer. So all we have to do is prove to him that we want to win.”
Minnesota missed the playoffs for just the second time in the past 12 seasons last year. The team, however, has not won a playoff round since 2015.