2022 MN WILD/NHL THREAD

I think he said something along the lines of I have seen these negotiations before they take time.

I don’t get NHL but Russo was on PA this morning and basically said he believes the Wild are sticking with a 5 year offer and not backing down from it and it’s basically on KK’s side to decide their fate. Just Russo’s opinion but I think it’s a good move if it’s true.

He also said that he’s talked to many players who live or train in town (not Wild players) and agents he knows and they all cannot believe how this thing has gone down. Can’t believe the Wild are letting him play them like this. I understand both sides of it. The Wild can’t let him get away but as what cost?

And he said he can tell BG is straight pissed off about how it all has transpired, especially because it impacted how the Wild went after free agents.

^^ thanks for the update Mahto I didn’t catch Russo on KFAN today. It sounds like this has now turned into some bad blood between player and team and the season hasn’t even started yet. This has now entered the ugly stage and will only get uglier as the days go by without a signing.

What makes this so ridiculous is he has no choice. If I were BG I would have told KK you miss first day of training camp 9X5 becomes 8X5. You miss the start of regular season 8X5 becomes 7X5. You want to stay in mother Russia then decide soon.

The Wild are the ones with all the power and they need to start acting like it.

Ice Cap wrote:

^^ thanks for the update Mahto I didn’t catch Russo on KFAN today. It sounds like this has now turned into some bad blood between player and team and the season hasn’t even started yet. This has now entered the ugly stage and will only get uglier as the days go by without a signing.

What makes this so ridiculous is he has no choice. If I were BG I would have told KK you miss first day of training camp 9X5 becomes 8X5. You miss the start of regular season 8X5 becomes 7X5. You want to stay in mother Russia then decide soon.

The Wild are the ones with all the power and they need to start acting like it.

Actually the anger is more from the GM and front office. Russo made it very clear that the players on the Wild have not said anything negative in regards to KK during this. It was players from outside the organization and other agents from around the league that were saying it’s ridiculous.

And for what it’s worth, he still said he thinks KK signs. He just doesn’t know when it’s going to happen.

Players generally won’t comment on another players negotiations that are on the same team but at some point they go wtf is going on here?
Because what the hold up really is is never told to the public the easy conclusion people and teammates make is he doesn’t want to be here. That the Wild are not a good enough team to deserve his talent. Thats a bad optic and it’s on him that he’s allowed it to get to that point.

Russo commented awhile ago that the front office is furious the way this has gone. They have been generous to a fault with the amount of money they offered and then compromised on term. I’m sure they are quite unhappy that he is now not going to be here for training camp or most likely the first exhibition game against the Blues.

If the hold up was money it would have leaked from the KK camp that he wants 10 or 12 million and not 9 but they even know how ridiculous that would sound.

I also get the feeling that the agents for Kaprizov, Petterson and Tkachuk are waiting for the one of them to sign and set the bar for arguing their $ demands afterwards, I really only think Petterson can legitimately use Kaprizov and Tkachuk contracts as his floor since he’s younger and an established allstar center already. Tkchuk’s stats are similar to Kaprizov’s and he’s been on a terrible team his first 3 years, but I would put him behind Kaprizov in order of importance to their teams…

Vancouver is looking at $9+aav for Petterson and $8+aav for Hughes, that will be tough to get under the cap even with the LTIR contracts they could use…

You used to see this in the NFL for 1st round draft picks signing before the league basically set the prices per pick #…it would be a domino signing effect with each earlier pick getting a little more $….

Ice Cap wrote:

^^ thanks for the update Mahto I didn’t catch Russo on KFAN today. It sounds like this has now turned into some bad blood between player and team and the season hasn’t even started yet. This has now entered the ugly stage and will only get uglier as the days go by without a signing.

What makes this so ridiculous is he has no choice. If I were BG I would have told KK you miss first day of training camp 9X5 becomes 8X5. You miss the start of regular season 8X5 becomes 7X5. You want to stay in mother Russia then decide soon.

The Wild are the ones with all the power and they need to start acting like it.

X1000

Umy wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ice Cap wrote:</div>
^^ thanks for the update Mahto I didn’t catch Russo on KFAN today. It sounds like this has now turned into some bad blood between player and team and the season hasn’t even started yet. This has now entered the ugly stage and will only get uglier as the days go by without a signing.

What makes this so ridiculous is he has no choice. If I were BG I would have told KK you miss first day of training camp 9X5 becomes 8X5. You miss the start of regular season 8X5 becomes 7X5. You want to stay in mother Russia then decide soon.

The Wild are the ones with all the power and they need to start acting like it.

X1000

I agree somewhat, but you also don’t want to pi$$ him off so much that he does decide to just stay home and play in the KHL for 3 more years and then becomes an NHL UFA and can pick his team and the Wild get ZERO return for a potential superstar…for somebody who’s spent his entire life in his home country minus a 5 month stint in the US isolated in an apartment during a global pandemic, that option likely isn’t that bad to him as most people think it is…

Ripjiggen wrote:

If you think some good teams or more up and coming teams than the wild can’t move players or money around for him in 2-3 seasons I think is a little silly. Pretty sure that is exactly what he is trying to do is get to UFA as quick as possible for that exact reason.

I understand he’s not a UFA and clearly wants to be.

My point is that be it now, 2-3 years from now, or 5 years from now, doesn’t matter. His ability to “steer” his way to a contender club will be very limited if he wants a $9-10M salary and a multi-year deal. His agent seems to be filling his head with notions that getting yourself on a talent-loaded contender squad is as easy as getting on a city bus.

I know it’s not now, but IF it were today, I don’t see a team that can be called a legit contender over the next 1-2 years and that ALSO has $9+ mil in free cap space to spend on a single FA. Hard to see that changing much without a big-big cap increase. It would have to be part of a trade deal and those big-dollar deals seem really tough to pull off these days unless it’s a Pierre-Luc Dupaineinthearse / Laine you-take-my-PITA-I’ll-take-yours type of salary for salary swap.

Yes, as you say an “up-and-coming” team, but that’s not the sure thing his agent seems to be implying he can find for KK if only he were a FA not chained to, ummm, an up and coming team like MN…

Yeah sorry I just disagree. Look at several teams salary caps come the 2022-2023 season Boston has 4 forwards under contract none of which are over 6.5 Chicago same boat with Toews and Kane coming off the books. Pittsburg has 5 forwards under contract and Malkin off the books. I could go on and on. Look at the 2023-2024 season and the list grows even larger which is most likely his earliest UFA year. I understand these teams will be filling some of those spots in the next two seasons and maybe some of the teams won’t be cup contenders, but I would argue they will be closer contenders than the wild. Who are for the most part early in a rebuild.

I agree Joe that it does seem that the idea of staying in Russia is not that bad of a sounding prospect for him. Family is there all his buddies probably a girlfriend or two and he is wealthy by Russia standards playing in the KHL.

Okay I get that. But this appears to be a situation where’s he saying ok I want to play in the NHL but only if I can play on a team where I have the best chance of winning a Cup in three years and then high tail it home Cup in hand. Who knows. Maybe he does need to be pissed off a bit to make him face the reality of his position and make his choice.

What an embarrassment for the Wild if he said keep your 9 million I’m staying in Russia until I’m a FA. That’s probably more likely what the Wild are hoping to avoid. They don’t want to be Buffalo 2.0 where nobody wants to go.

Ripjiggen wrote:

I understand these teams will be filling some of those spots in the next two seasons and maybe some of the teams won’t be cup contenders..,

So what you’re saying is that by the time we get there, you agree it won’t be easy to find the sure-thing fit? Which is exactly what I pointed out. By the time we get there, the situation you point out, won’t exist anymore.

No team in the flat cap environment is just going to sit there and pass on other players, thus saving $10M in free cap space just waiting for a player to become a FA AND hopefully choose them. And if they do, they won’t be the contender that Kaprisov and or his agent seem to be seeking.

Predicting capspace 1-3 years out is a complete crapshoot, teams can change so quickly nowadays. If you look at Boston, yes they have alot of contracts coming off the books in the next 1-3 years, but they will ALSO have some huge contracts to resign as well, McAvoy, Pastrnak, Bergeron (likely a short term deal leading to retirement) but most of these will be substantial pay increases. I don’t know what their prospect pool looks like, but if they can’t backfill with rookie contracts they will be forced to overpay FA’s to fill them. Buyouts and LTIR can also play a big factor in temporarily moving money around year to year…

Sports teams in general have turned into a year to year makeup it seems, so we’ll just see how this all plays out and take the good with the bad I guess…

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
I understand these teams will be filling some of those spots in the next two seasons and maybe some of the teams won’t be cup contenders..,

So what you’re saying is that by the time we get there, you agree it won’t be easy to find the sure-thing fit? Which is exactly what I pointed out. By the time we get there, the situation you point out, won’t exist anymore.

No team in the flat cap environment is just going to sit there and pass on other players, thus saving $10M in free cap space just waiting for a player to become a FA AND hopefully choose them. And if they do, they won’t be the contender that Kaprisov and or his agent seem to be seeking.

Just curios if you misspell Kaprizov on purpose or just by habit?

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Just curios if you misspell Kaprizov on purpose or just by habit?

watch how he spells Guerin. LOL I notice it, but I thought it was just a “Grouse” thing.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Just curios if you misspell Kaprizov on purpose or just by habit?

Im curious if you spell curious incorrectly on purpose. LMAO

JoeMX1825 wrote:

Predicting capspace 1-3 years out is a complete crapshoot, teams can change so quickly nowadays. If you look at Boston, yes they have alot of contracts coming off the books in the next 1-3 years, but they will ALSO have some huge contracts to resign as well, McAvoy, Pastrnak, Bergeron (likely a short term deal leading to retirement) but most of these will be substantial pay increases. I don’t know what their prospect pool looks like, but if they can’t backfill with rookie contracts they will be forced to overpay FA’s to fill them. Buyouts and LTIR can also play a big factor in temporarily moving money around year to year…

Sports teams in general have turned into a year to year makeup it seems, so we’ll just see how this all plays out and take the good with the bad I guess…

Exactly so why is it that only the wild and coyotes keep getting brought up as his only options. This year yes which is a mute point.
Do we really think just because it is a flat cap that big contracts won’t be signed.

Please tell me Grouse who will be in the Cup 3 years from now? Better yet who are the Cup Contenders 3 years from now?

Im curious if you spell curious incorrectly on purpose. LMAO
[/quote]just testing you guys, you passed my test!

For those interested in the National TV Schedule. Just dropped:

https://www.nhl.com/wild/news/wild-national-broadcast-schedule-2021-22-season/c-326167092

Also “Iowa Joe” will be the new play by play guy replacing Bob Kurtz for the majority of the games. Bob will be doing some home games however.

i’m curious if the ESPN+ games will also be on BSN? I believe ESPN+ is an EXTRA Tier channel purchase on Comcast?

Ripjiggen wrote:

Please tell me Grouse who will be in the Cup 3 years from now? Better yet who are the Cup Contenders 3 years from now?

So now you’re getting my point. Nobody including Kaprisov and his agent knows. So how would they engineer a move to a cup-contending team and even if they COULD know who was going to be in, say, the finals after Kaprisov was a free agent, what are the chances they could get him on that bandwagon? Next to zero unless he will play for about half of what he’ll be making with the Wild.

Regarding spelling, I don’t look up spellings or hockey players’ names. I assume most on this thread would know who I was referring to. If you think Kaprizov is bad, I really, really owe Nikolai Khabibulin an apology for what I did to his name 7 or 8 years ago when I tried to spell it phonetically.

Getting really sick of the non stop Kaprizov talk

But where did the idea that he wants to go to a contender come from? That hasn’t been said anywhere… closest thing to it is Russo SPECULATING that he probably isn’t excited to play next to Victor Rask for another year. The only thing we know for sure is he wants the shortest term possible. Everything else is pure speculation, but guys are running with it like it’s written in stone. Most stars in their prime just wanna go to big markets, good weather, low tax, or home.

In actual news around the NHL….

THE LEAGUE IS FINALLY CRACKING DOWN ON FREAKING CROSS-CHECKING. Sorry for yelling but I’m pretty excited about that and it’s about dam time. Over/Under of 4.5 cross check penalties per game in the preseason?

tswoboda wrote:

In actual news around the NHL….

THE LEAGUE IS FINALLY CRACKING DOWN ON FREAKING CROSS-CHECKING. Sorry for yelling but I’m pretty excited about that and it’s about dam time. Over/Under of 4.5 cross check penalties per game in the preseason?

Great news! I dont particularly mind a cross check in the back provided its not done with a driving downward motion. Just using your stick to try and move a player is OK, its the violent cross checks that really irk me.
I would bet we see a lot of them called especially in preseason where they like to set the tone.
Oh, and Kaprizov…

everything we talk about is SPECULATION, it’s a fan forum.

His decision really falls into 3 categories, 1 – He wants the most money possible over the 11 years he realistically has to earn in the NHL and will take it whatever way he can (3 year deal then an max 8 as a FA elsewhere or all 11 with the Wild), 2A – He doesn’t want to play in MN or in the Wild org and 3 years and out is his only choice either with the Wild in the NHL if he can or KHL, 2B- He doesn’t want to waste 4 of his prime years on a team cap handcuffed by the Parise/Suter buyouts and wants to play on a more established team because of this to boost his stats for his next big contract…

He’s the best talent this franchise has ever had, he’s the last player left to sign, so it’s important. There’s literally nothing else to talk about until tomorrow night when we’ll finally see Rossi, Boldy and Addison all on the same ice playing against other top talent their age and we can see how they do… If they are ready for the NHL, we should see them pretty much dominate on the ice…

tswoboda wrote:

Getting really sick of the non stop Kaprizov talk

But where did the idea that he wants to go to a contender come from? That hasn’t been said anywhere… closest thing to it is Russo SPECULATING that he probably isn’t excited to play next to Victor Rask for another year. The only thing we know for sure is he wants the shortest term possible. Everything else is pure speculation, but guys are running with it like it’s written in stone. Most stars in their prime just wanna go to big markets, good weather, low tax, or home.

%100 agree with this! My personal onion is his agent is trying to get him a pay day now because who knows he could be fired in 3 years.

I saw some videos from the Wild’s prospect training camp or whatever you call it. Boldy does look like he put on some weight and Rossi was flying up the ice. Curious if both of them will crack the line ups.

KP wrote:

I saw some videos from the Wild’s prospect training camp or whatever you call it. Boldy does look like he put on some weight and Rossi was flying up the ice. Curious if both of them will crack the line ups.

I think Boldy is probably closer to making it that Rossi just because he played AHL games last year and hasnt had significant time off like Rossi. I wouldnt count him out, but they are going to have to earn it.
It was interesting I read somewhere that they projected Boldy as a right wing. That would be interesting with Fiala on the other side.
I think that was Bombardir that said that.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ripjiggen wrote:</div>
Please tell me Grouse who will be in the Cup 3 years from now? Better yet who are the Cup Contenders 3 years from now?

So now you’re getting my point. Nobody including Kaprisov and his agent knows. So how would they engineer a move to a cup-contending team and even if they COULD know who was going to be in, say, the finals after Kaprisov was a free agent, what are the chances they could get him on that bandwagon? Next to zero unless he will play for about half of what he’ll be making with the Wild.

Regarding spelling, I don’t look up spellings or hockey players’ names. I assume most on this thread would know who I was referring to. If you think Kaprizov is bad, I really, really owe Nikolai Khabibulin an apology for what I did to his name 7 or 8 years ago when I tried to spell it phonetically.

Actually I don’t but carry on!

It’s been 2 straight pages of arguing whether or not cup contenders can afford to pay him… for absolutely no reason at all. Makes as much sense to argue which skate he ties first… for the record, I’m going left.

Kinda fun following the Russians that we finally have in the prospect pool…

Khusnutdinov didn’t play today for SKA… not sure if he’s injured or just a healthy scratch. He had been playing 1st line the last few games.

Matvei Guskov played 1st line for CSKA today and now has 4 pts through 5 games… he’s scoring Parise style goals. He was a 5th round pick in the Fenton draft.

tswoboda wrote:

It’s been 2 straight pages of arguing whether or not cup contenders can afford to pay him… for absolutely no reason at all. Makes as much sense to argue which skate he ties first… for the record, I’m going left.

Kinda fun following the Russians that we finally have in the prospect pool…

Khusnutdinov didn’t play today for SKA… not sure if he’s injured or just a healthy scratch. He had been playing 1st line the last few games.

Matvei Guskov played 1st line for CSKA today and now has 4 pts through 5 games… he’s scoring Parise style goals. He was a 5th round pick in the Fenton draft.

KHL is pretty notorious for giving players games off, sometimes they swap in/out 4-5 starters, at least I remember that with Kaprizov and CSKA when I paid attention to his KHL games…

tswoboda wrote:

Kinda fun following the Russians that we finally have in the prospect pool…

Khusnutdinov didn’t play today for SKA… not sure if he’s injured or just a healthy scratch. He had been playing 1st line the last few games.

Matvei Guskov played 1st line for CSKA today and now has 4 pts through 5 games… he’s scoring Parise style goals. He was a 5th round pick in the Fenton draft.

Did that 16 year old play in Khusnutdinov’s spot?