The Minnesota Wild will have money to spend next season, and Kiril Kaprizov’s extension will be key.
Michael Russo of The Athletic: A large chunk of dead cap space will be significantly reduced next Minnesota Wild offseason. Zach Parise, Ryan Suter hit $14.7 million to $1.7 million. They are already looking at who can be found next July 1.
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Wild owner Craig Leipold:
“But we know who they are, we don’t know if they will end up signing with their teams or if they become UFA. But we have a list, and if they are found, we will follow them. And we feel like we’ll be able to get one or two really good players to add to this team.”
They will have some of their own free agents to take care of but may look to Minnesota native Brock Boeser or Brock Nelson if he becomes available. Other major UFAs could include Mitch Marner, Mikko Rantanen, and Carter Verhaeghe.
The Wild are also eligible to sign forward Kiril Kaprizov to a contract extension on July 1, and it won’t come cheap.
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“So what do you want? He wants to win.” Leipold said. “Therefore, we must show not only to him, but also to other UFAs that we also want to win. And we are used to winning. This is the state of hockey, and we will return to winning ways. We’re going to get an endless playoff team, but it starts with Kirill. He will be focused on what we are going to do. We plan to re-sign him.
“I will tell you that no one will give more money than us, or more. So what we have to do is prove to him that we want to win.”
A long-term extension could cost $12 to $13 million.
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