Ad Disclosure
Kirill Kaprizov Obviously Holding Out for that Flyers Offer
Published:
Let’s get it back to the NHL, where the biggest news of the week is Kirill Kaprizov reportedly turning down a Minnesota contract extension that would have made him the league’s highest-paid player.
Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin said he doesn’t want “all-out panic” among the team’s fans after star winger Kirill Kaprizov reportedly turned down an NHL-record contract extension this week.
Kaprizov is in the last year of a five-year, $45 million contract that carries a no-movement clause. He can become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Wild offered him an eight-year contract extension worth $128 million that Kaprizov and his agent turned down in a meeting Tuesday, according to NHL reporter Frank Seravalli.
If he turned that down, where does Minnesota go from there? How do you up an offer that was already record-breaking?
The only explanation is that Kaprisov is keeping his options open, and one of those options is the Philadelphia Flyers. For real. Where exactly are the Minnesota Wild going anyway? To the second round? They haven’t won a playoff series since 2015! The Flyers are in a full rebuild and won a postseason series more recently than the Wild. That Minnesota team isn’t doing anything special over the next few seasons, not in that division. Philadelphia is on an upward trajectory and the Wild are on a sideways trajectory.
You think I’m joking? I’m not. Kaprisov should come play alongside Matty Michkov, Trevor Zegras, Porter Martone, and Jett Luchanko. He should come play in front of real fans who are THIRSTY for wins. He should come to a city that’s building a new arena in a few years. It makes too much sense. The Flyers are a legacy franchise doing a proper turnaround here and Kaprisov can be the first big free agent to open the floodgates and get other guys to sign here. He should seriously think about #DoingTheDeal.
FWIW, the cap is totally clean after this season. They owe $6.5 million more in dead money for Scotty Laughton, Kevin Hayes, and Cam Atkinson this season, then that comes off the books. They’ve got Coots, TK, and Owen Tippett on the cap sheet through 2030, amounting to about $25 million total. Travis Sanheim is locked up at $6.25 million through 2030 as well. Otherwise, they’re not saddled with anything that’s going to prevent them from being a player in free agency. They’ll extend Michkov and hopefully Zegras in due time, then come back to Tyson Foerster in 2027, but this is the best cap situation they’ve had in probably forever.
It’s time to start thinking big again. Remember, people once laughed at the thought of Bryce Harper ever signing with the Phillies.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com