Does Kirill Kaprizov's huge contract make you sad? Now Minnesota's GM speaks

Recently, two significant contracts have been made in the NHL. First, Connor McDavid signed a two-year deal with an annual salary of 12.5 million dollars with the Edmonton Oilers. A few days later, Jack Eichel made an eight-year contract with an annual salary of 13.5 million dollars with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Compared to these two contracts, the deal of Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild seems particularly expensive. The eight-year contract entitles the Russian forward to an annual salary of 17 million dollars.

In an interview with The Athletic, however, the Wild’s GM Bill Guerin stated that he does not regret the massive contract at all.

– Everyone has their price at which they agree to play in their market area, and Kirill was worth that price to us. He is so important to us. And we couldn’t take the risk of him leaving. Good for other teams, but it’s still good that we get to keep him for another nine years. And yes, Jack’s contract is 13.5 million dollars and that’s great, but Kirill is just so important to us. If we let him go or even flirt with the idea, who knows? The worst-case scenario is that he leaves. That’s worse than paying him 17 million dollars, Guerin stated.

On social media, hockey fans have felt that the Wild should have pushed back harder in negotiations and called Kaprizov’s bluff.

– Yeah, people say that, but they are not in my shoes. It’s easy to say that from behind a keyboard. I don’t apologize for the contract, nor do I feel that I should defend it. We did what we had to do to keep our player.