The Minnesota Wild officially announced the signing of an eight-year contract with star forward Kirill Kaprizov for $136 million, setting a new NHL record.

Under the terms of the deal, the average annual value will be $17 million and will start next season. This figure is the highest average annual value per season among players since the NHL salary cap was introduced in 2005, surpassing Leon Draisaitl of Edmonton, whose eight-year, $112 million contract carried an average of about $14 million per season. Previously, Alexander Ovechkin of Washington held the overall value record – $124 million over 13 years, signed in 2008.

The Kaprizov deal comes at a highly sensitive period in hockey history: the world’s best player Connor McDavid could become a free agent on July 1, and among the expected signings are Jack Eichel and Artemi Panarin.

This season Kaprizov is completing the final year of his five-year, $45 million contract signed in September 2021. In previous seasons he posted incredible numbers: 47 goals and 61 points in 81 games in the 2021-22 season, one of the best stretches of his career.

Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy in the 2020-21 season after scoring 27 goals and 24 assists in 55 games, becoming the first Wild player to win the award.

Career Path and Impact of the Deal

In 2015 he was drafted in the fifth round, after which he continued to play in the KHL until signing with Minnesota in July 2020. On the road to the agreement, obstacles from the league emerged due to the pandemic and bureaucracy, notably visa issues stemming from the tense political relations between Russia and the United States.

The subsequent offseasons after returning to Russia brought new difficulties with traveling to the United States and bureaucratic procedures, but Kaprizov did not stop, continuing to train and stay in shape.

Even with injuries, he remained one of the most productive stars of the Wild: in the 2022-23 season – 40 goals and 35 assists in 67 games; in 2023-24 – 46 goals and 50 assists in 75 games. The last season presented a test due to a lower-body injury that required surgery and caused him to miss about 40 games, but he returned before the playoffs with five goals and four assists in six games against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Overall in his professional career Kaprizov has accumulated 386 points in 319 regular-season games and 21 points in 25 playoff games. After the playoff run he said that his contract does not bother him –

“I like it here.” “Everything is going to be all right.”

– Kirill Kaprizov

After the start of the training camp there were questions about the authenticity of the deal terms, but the captain remained confident: Minnesota and its fans are precious to him, and he values the team, teammates, and the organization.

The longest and most expensive contracts in the club’s history previously belonged to left winger Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter – both signed 13-year deals worth $98 million in 2012. Their payouts were one of the drivers of the club’s financial transformation – subsequently buying out these contracts in 2021 became an important step in refreshing the team’s chemistry, but required a significant portion of the salary cap for several seasons.