Wild's Kirill Kaprizov Reportedly Rejected Historic 8-Year, $128M Contract Extension

Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov reportedly turned down an extension that would have made him the highest-paid player in NHL history, TSN's Frank Seravalli reported Wednesday.

The Wild offered Kaprizov an eight-year, $128 million deal during a Tuesday meeting in Minnesota, according to Seravalli.

Kaprizov is currently set to enter the 2025-26 season on an expiring $9 million AAV deal, per Spotrac.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman previously reported on a Friday episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast that Kaprizov could receive a $128 million offer from the Wild.

Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl currently holds the most expensive NHL contract both in terms of total value ($112 million) and average annual value ($14 million).

The $16 million AAV deal proposed by the Wild would have beaten out Draisaitl's contract in both categories.

The Wild are also the only team who could offer Kaprizov eight years on his next contract. Becoming an unrestricted free agent would limit him to seven years on his next deal.

As Wild owner Craig Leipold said last October about Kaprizov's extension, per The Athletic's Michael Russo: "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."

Leipold continued sounding confident about his team's ongoing negotiations with Kaprizov as recently as last Wednesday, when he told The Athletic's Joe Smith he felt "like we're not that far off."

"This will be a huge deal — likely the biggest in the NHL ever," Leipold told Smith. "There's no better human being or better hockey player or better person than Kirill. I think it will be a good conversation that we'll have with him. I'm very anxious and looking forward to that conversation. I think we'll move quickly after that."

If that conversation didn't lead to any resolution, it could potentially be because Kaprizov is seeking a shorter-term deal with an eye on snagging a higher AAV when the cap increases in the future.

The NHL and NHL Players' Association announced in January the upper limit of the salary cap would climb to $95.5 million in 2025-26, then continue rising until it reaches $113.5 million in 2027-28.

That means a $16 million AAV deal, which would be worth just under 17 percent of the cap next season, would decrease in value to about 14 percent of the cap in three years.

Kaprizov, who turned 28 in April, was limited by a lower-body injury which necessitated surgery to just 41 games last season.

He still recorded 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points, returning at the end of the campaign to contribute five goals and four assists in six playoff games before the Wild were eliminated from the first round by the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Wild last won a playoff series in 2015, but the team got one step closer by coming within one overtime goal of taking a 3-1 series lead against the Golden Knights last April.

Keeping Kaprizov in Minnesota is currently key to the Wild's plans of making it past the first round of the playoffs next spring. If Kaprizov continues signaling he does not plan to re-sign with the Wild, however, other NHL teams will be watching closely to see if the team's plans to building around him change before the 2026 trade deadline.