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From Russo on The Athletic:
Behind the scenes of how the Wild re-signed Kirill Kaprizov and why he was in Florida
By Michael Russo 2h ago 58
Bill Guerin was in a meeting with his coaches Monday when he got a call from Paul Theofanous.
Guerin texted back, āCanāt talk, Iām in a meeting.ā
Kirill Kapizovās agent wrote back: āYou should step out.ā
The Wild general manager did just that.
Guerin called back, and Theofanous said, āHey, look, I think itās time we get together.ā
āIāll see you tonight,ā Guerin replied.
Guerin immediately headed to the airport for a flight to South Florida. A few days earlier, Guerin learned that Kaprizov had secretly flown to Miami, where he would quarantine, receive an NHL-authorized COVID-19 vaccine and wait until his contract was finalized so he hopefully would not miss training camp, which officially began Wednesday with on-ice sessions beginning Thursday.
āI think some people thought I might be mad because he didnāt tell me that he was coming over,ā Guerin said. āThey were not obligated to tell me. Thatās fine, they donāt need to tell me anything. I donāt care. I was just happy that he was in the country and happy that he was vaccinated.
āI give Kirill and his agent a lot of credit for planning ahead and planning for the future and getting here with ample time to quarantine and get vaccinated and do all the things that wouldāve really taken weeks. When I found out, I was thrilled. So, it was an easy trip for me to make.ā
Monday night, Kaprizov, Theofanous and Guerin had dinner on South Beach.
On Tuesday morning, Guerin and Theofanous had breakfast, then the three reconvened in the afternoon to grind out the final details of an eventual five-year, $45 million contract that makes the young star and 2021 Calder Trophy winner the highest-paid player in franchise history.
The deal features no signing bonuses; a full no-trade clause in the fourth and fifth years; and a pay structure of $5 million, $10 million, $12.5 million, $10 million and $7.5 million.
By the time the parties shook hands and put pen to paper on the final agreement, Guerin and Kaprizov had a 2 Ā½-hour window because of weather to get to a private plane that was 50 miles north in Boca Raton for a flight to Minneapolis.
They apparently almost didnāt make it.
āThe plane ride was good, right?ā Guerin, turning to Kaprizov, asked with a smile. āHe spoke English to me the whole time, by the way ā the 3 Ā½ hour flight. He used a little bit of Google Translate, but we had a great flight. We got caught up on a lot of different things, but it was all about just moving forward.ā
During a light-hearted, at times laugh-out-loud funny news conference, the hard feelings that may have been triggered during the at times contentious contract talks between Guerin and Theofanous were long gone.
Guerin, who just nine days earlier in an interview with The Athletic was exasperated with how negotiations were going, was cracking jokes left and right, like when the 2018 Olympic hero for Russia was asked about the Olympics.
Kaprizov gave a long diatribe in Russian and Guerin, who doubles as the United Statesā assistant GM, cracked, āWeāre coming after you guys. I know what you just said.ā
Or, when Kaprizov was asked about whether the threat of him re-signing with CSKA Moscow was legitimate and he uttered, āNo chance.ā Guerin chimed in with some advice, saying, āYou shouldnāt answer that. Youāre going to blow it for next (contract negotiation.)ā
Luckily, for everybodyās benefit that wonāt be for another four (when an extension is permitted) or five years.
āObviously, it was stressful,ā Kaprizov said through a translator. āThe whole process was hard. Coming out of last season, I thought things would get done a little bit quicker. But these things take time. I completely understand. Iām really happy that Iām here now and I can just focus on hockey. Obviously extremely happy to be a part of the Minnesota Wild.ā
What was truly neat about the press conference, this was the first time the local media was able to interview last yearās leading scorer and budding star face-to-face.
He signed last summer in the middle of a pandemic and was forced to quarantine his entire time in Minnesota. Then, during his rookie year, the team had to be covered virtually via Zoom.
Not only was the bubbly, often-smiling Kaprizov there in front of reporters in real life, he showed how much his English has improved by answering a handful of questions in English.
The best?
What every Wild fan and, to be blunt, management had to love to hear.
He said he doesnāt feel one iota of pressure by playing 55 games in the NHL and being awarded as the ninth-highest paid winger in the NHL and the highest-paid player in NHL history with this little NHL experience.
āNah, thereās not pressure, because now itās easy for me when I signed,ā Kaprizov said in English. āNow I just want to play. You know, itās like, āWhew.ā Itās hockey.ā
That comment, again, in English, was proof positive of the it factor that Guerin always says Kaprizov has that is simply unlike most players who have donned a Wild sweater.
For a guy who has barely had a cup of coffee in the NHL to feel comfortable enough to walk into the dressing room as a $9 million a year player just shows the swagger this talent has.
After all, this is a player who has excelled everywhere heās been, from international tournaments like the World Junior Championship and the Olympics; to the KHL where he led the league in goal scoring twice and won a championship; to obviously the NHL where he scored in overtime of his NHL debut, led all rookies in numerous statistical categories, and rewrote the Wildās rookie record book highlighted 27 goals and 51 points in 55 games.
āI think heās just one of those guys, heās gonna play the same whether he makes his entry-level salary or $9 million a year,ā Guerin said. āHeās just gonna play. Thereās an inner confidence with him that not everybody has. I think he just really believes in himself and heāll go and perform.ā
But, still, Guerin said the face-to-face meeting where he and Kaprizov could simply look each other in the eyes was the necessary final step to conclude a contract that sources say has been on the table for weeks.
āItās easy to be tough on people over the phone and over a Zoom call or something like that,ā Guerin said. āBut you canāt beat meeting in person.ā
Added the gregarious Kaprizov, āI had a smile the whole time. I couldnāt really get it off my face. It was great to see him in person, so I was very happy the two days, and I thought negotiations went really well.ā
There was no explanation as to why it took the pressure point of the start of training camp for Kaprizov to finally agree to the contract.
Maybe Kaprizov just wanted to hear from Guerin why the Wild refused to sign him for fewer than five years.
Maybe Kaprizov wanted to hear from Guerin why the Wild refused to give a nickel in signing bonuses.
Maybe Kaprizov wanted to hear from Guerin how he plans to build a Stanley Cup contender.
Guerin wouldnāt get into the specifics of what was discussed, but from somebody who twice held out as a player, Guerin said he never held any grudges and understood all along that Kaprizov probably just needed to hear from him.
Unfortunately, Guerin said that in the midst of a pandemic with Kaprizov back home, alternating between his apartment in Moscow and home in Siberia, meeting sooner was pretty impossible.
āI wouldāve gone,ā Guerin said, turning to Kaprizov.
āItās just not that easy when youāre the player,ā Guerin explained. āYou want to know why you canāt get certain things, you want to know why the team wants to do certain ways. And thatās not always clear. I think him just hearing it from me, face to face, was really important. Now heās like, āOK, heās telling me, not my agent,ā like, this is real. But I can also explain to him from where Iām coming from. And, like I said, itās important for me too to understand where heās coming from.ā
Guerin has admitted he never imagined heād be paying Kaprizov $9 million a year on a mid-range contract.
Eight years, yes.
Five years, no.
āThat was the hard thing because there were not a lot of comps,ā Guerin said. āWe could kind of see where we thought he would fit if he had been here for longer, but some guys had 100 games before they got their big deal. Most guys had 250 to 300 or 320, something like that, before they got paid like this. So we tried to just kind of forecast on what we think heās going to be.
āThereās a limit to that, but Kirillās more than just on the ice. Heās helped bring a new look to the Minnesota Wild. Heās an exciting player, and thatās worth something, too. I think heās right where he should be. I think heās worth every penny of this.ā
Nine million bucks, though, is quite a commitment, especially from a team that will have $12.74 million in dead cap money in 2022-23 and $14.74 million in 2023-24 and 2024-25 for buying out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
āIām confident, but Iām also realistic that there are going to be some challenges coming up,ā Guerin said when asked how confident he is that he can build the Wild into a winner with such limited cap space in the upcoming seasons. āBut you know what? Those are the decisions that we made. ā¦ I really do think that weāll get through it. But weāre going to need to draft really well and develop guys and have a good influx of young players that we can afford. And theyāre going to have to be impactful, and theyāre going to get opportunities. So thereās ways.ā
One thing that did work out perfectly with Kaprizov is something the Wild seemingly didnāt realize until recently: Kaprizovās work visa from his original contract doesnāt expire until Sept. 30, sources say. So, thatās how he was able to get into the country without a finalized new contract. The Wild now have eight days to renew his visa.
But the initiative Kaprizov took by traveling to Florida on his own without the organization even knowing tells you everything you need to know about how much he always planned to continue playing for the Wild. Heās galvanized the franchise, is a beloved teammate and a huge personality.
Itās why Guerin said he never lost āone ounce of sleepā over the alleged KHL threat.
āYeah, it could be a threat with some guys. It could be legitimate,ā he said. āBut with Kirill, I donāt know ā¦ you just know. Like, he wants to be here.ā
Kaprizov canāt wait to get started, to finally play an 82-game season against the entire league, see cities he has never seen before and get to see how he plays against the likes of Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Ovechkin and so many other stars.
āVery much looking forward to having fans in the building and the excitement that they bring,ā Kaprizov said. āLast year with the half season it just wasnāt the same. Even when we did have fans it brought something, so I canāt imagine what itās going to be like with a full stadium and we can see all the cities and all the fans across the league.ā
This negotiation was an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish, with Guerin admitting, āSome days, thereās, āMan, I thought we were right there,ā and then there were other times when it was like, āOh my God, weāre light-years away.ā
āBut I knew it would eventually get done.ā
So, after all that fretting throughout the summer, after the worry that even if Kaprizov signed on the eve of camp that heād miss several days in order to get a work visa and fly from Russia to Minnesota and satisfy a seven-day quarantine and then get vaccinated, Kaprizov is signed, sealed, delivered and, most importantly, in Minnesota.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic the league has decided Kaprizov wonāt have to quarantine in Minnesota because he got vaccinated.
So on Thursday, when the Wild take the ice officially at TRIA Rink for the first time to commence the 2021-22 season, a jovial No. 97 will be out there skating around and probably wowing us all like usual.
āI donāt think he regresses,ā Guerin said. āI think itās a new challenge. Heās only played against seven teams in the league. And thereās a whole bunch of other good teams out there and heās not a secret anymore. But knowing him, knowing his character, knowing his competitiveness, heāll be fine.ā
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