How Kirill Kaprizov’s Deal Reshapes The Market

BUFFALO, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 27: Kirill Kaprizov #97 of the Minnesota Wild looks on during the third period of an NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres on November 27, 2024 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Ben Ludeman/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

Kirill Kaprizov will be staying in the Twin Cities for the foreseeable future. And it is safe to say he can afford a bigger place if he would like.

On the last day of September, the Minnesota Wild and Kirill Kaprizov agreed to an eight-year, $136 million contract. This will extend the 29-year-old winger throughout his age-36 season, at an average AAV of $17 million per season.

This deal will make Kaprizov the highest-earner in NHL history, surpassing Alex Ovechkin’s $124 million contract. It will also surpass Leon Draisaitl’s $14 million AAV.

Kaprizov earned this deal after proving to be a point-per-game player in each of his first five seasons in the NHL.

With the Wild, Kaprizov has 185 goals and 201 assists in 319 career games. The Russian native only played in 41 games last season due to injury. In those games, Kaprizov was on pace to finish with a career-high in goals (50), assists (62), and points (112).

Even with only half the season last year, Kaprizov is already among the best players in the 25-year history of the franchise.

Kaprizov already holds the single-season franchise records for goals (47), power-play goals (19), and points (108).

The winger is already fifth in franchise history for career points, and if he plays towards his 82-game average this year, he will finish 2025-26 in second place all-time.

While these aspects show Kaprizov deserved the extension, do they warrant Kaprizov becoming the top-paid skater in the NHL?

Compared against other active players, Kaprizov is one of 34 players to collect 380 points in the first four years of their career. Of that group, he ranks 30th overall.

As a goal scorer, he ranks 15th in this group and has the 14th-best +/-.

While these show that he is amongst the best forwards in the NHL, it puts an emphasis on ‘amongst’.

However, his contract is not just “amongst” the best in hockey; it is now the bar for upcoming free agents also within this group.

So, how did Kaprizov get this payday? For that, he can thank the increased salary cap.

The NHL salary cap has jumped from $88 million to $95.5 million for the 2025-26 season, marking one of the largest single-year increases in league history. The cap is also projected to keep rising over the next three seasons, ensuring continued financial growth and roster flexibility across the league.

This is an 8.5% increase to the salary cap over the season. If Kaprizov were to earn this value in the context of last year’s salary cap, Kaprizov would have earned an AAV of $15.6 million, totaling $124 million over the eight years.

This still would have been the highest mark in hockey, however, at a much more understandable jump.

The newest free agent resetting the market is nothing new in any sport, especially in the NHL with their strict salary cap system.

However, for the Wild to allocate this percentage of their cap towards Kaprizov, after just improving their payroll situation, shows their belief in their young core.

Now, without Zach Parise and Ryan Suter still impacting their dead cap, the Wild have the 15th-best cap space, with $4.41 million remaining entering the year.

With Matthew Boldy and Brock Faber both earning less than $9 million AAV, despite likely being their leading players in terms of Time On Ice, it makes not only the Kaprizov move possible, but the addition of depth scoring possible as well.

While players like Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Tyler Pitlick are not needle-moving additions, they were all built around the main intention of the offseason, which was the extension of Kaprizov.

We will see if more moves are to come for Minnesota, depending on their start to the year.

From a league-wide perspective, however, the Kaprizov signing now sets the barometer for 2026 free agents and extension-eligible forwards.

With big names like Jack Eichel, Cale Makar, and Connor McDavid all on pace to become free agents following the year, we will see how the rest of the market regulates free agency after Kaprizov sets the tone.

We will also see if the premier free agents reach free agency at all, or if more moves like the Mikko Rantanen sign-and-trade will occur for these players to join their new teams ahead of the postseason.

Either way, the Wild got the ball rolling ahead of the start of the regular season. We will see now how the league responds to this signing.