The Minnesota Wild finally managed to get their best player — forward Kirill Kaprizov — signed to a new long-term contract extension on Tuesday, signing him to a max-term eight-year contract worth $136M. That comes out to a salary cap number of $17M per season, making him the highest-paid player in NHL history.
Kaprizov is one of the league’s best players, and also one of the best players in Wild franchise history. He’s an MVP-level scorer and one of the most impactful players in the world. It’s understandable that the Wild would want to pay whatever it takes to keep him, and with the salary cap rapidly increasing both this season and in future seasons it’s not a surprise that he cashed in.
But his title as the NHL’s highest-paid player is likely to be short-lived.
Bigger NHL contracts are coming, and soon
Prior to Kaprizov’s deal on Tuesday, the largest salary cap number/annual salary in the NHL was Edmonton Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl at $14M per season.
Kaprizov’s obviously blows past that, even when taking into account the salary cap increase.
