West Notes: Dunn, Walman, Avalanche Recalls
Seattle Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn is currently being evaluated for an injury and is considered out at this time on a day-to-day recovery timeline, per Kraken head coach Lane Lambert. (via team reporter/analyst Alison Lukan) Dunn did not practice today after suffering an injury in the team’s preseason contest yesterday against the Calgary Flames. At this moment, whether Dunn will be ready for the team’s season-opening game on October 9th is unclear.
Dunn, 28, is one of Seattle’s most important players. The blueliner led the team in time-on-ice per game in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, before this past summer’s signing of defender Brandon Montour. He also ranks second in points scored for the franchise all-time. Should Dunn end up missing regular-season time during this injury, his spot in the team’s lineup is likely to be taken by depth defenseman Josh Mahura. Alongside Dunn, Lambert also issued updates on the status of injured Kraken forwards Jared McCann and Chandler Stephenson, saying each is “progressing in the right direction.”
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Edmonton Sports Talk’s Tom Gazzola relayed word from Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch that injured defenseman Jake Walman is expected to be ready in time for the club’s season opener on October 8th, but added that he will not play in tomorrow’s preseason game against Seattle and is unlikely to play in Friday’s game as well. Walman was sidelined with a day-to-day injury last week, and appears to now be nearing a return to the ice, though he’s not quite there yet. The 29-year-old is entering a crucial contract season and could position himself to receive a lucrative next contract should he find a way to replicate his form from 2024-25, when he posted 40 points in 65 games.
- The Colorado Avalanche have recalled five players from their AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles: defensemen Ronnie Attard and Alex Gagne, and forwards Tye Felhaber, Jason Polin, and T.J. Tynan. Four of five players (everyone but Gagne) in that group cleared waivers on Sunday, and now appear to have been recalled for the purpose of skating in, at the very least, the team’s preseason contest tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights. Tynan is the most notable veteran name of the crop as the two-time AHL MVP is expected to play a massive role for the Eagles.
Jason Robertson To Wait On Contract Talks Until After The Season
The future of Jason Robertson with the Stars has been a talking point going back to the summer when there was some speculation about whether they could afford him for the upcoming season. However, a trade didn’t materialize.
Meanwhile, despite that, there has been some speculation about his long-term future with Dallas. One year away from restricted free agency, Robertson is in line for a significant raise from his current $7.75MM AAV and with their salary structure, some have wondered if the Stars will be able to afford to keep him long-term while continuing to add to their core.
However, despite all that speculation, Robertson told Stars staff writer Mike Heika that he’s not concerned about it at this time:
It doesn’t really bother me. I think what is important is this year for us as a team. The window is open, we’re trying to win it this year, and then we’ll look at it.
The 26-year-old had his second straight 80-point season last year, despite missing all of training camp while recovering from foot surgery which led to a slow start. He was also a bit quieter than expected in the playoffs after returning from injury although he still managed six points in 11 games.
Robertson has had either 79 or 80 points in three of the last four seasons, seemingly providing a reasonable baseline for talks. However, he managed 109 points the other year. It stands to reason that Robertson wants to see if a full training camp and a strong start could propel him closer to his best year which would certainly boost his stock heading into negotiations.
GM Jim Nill noted earlier this month that discussions were at a standstill. It appears he’s not worried about Robertson’s decision to hold off on any further discussions until after the season either:
With Jason, I don’t blame him. He’s not a UFA, he’s an RFA. He wants to see what the market is. Jason wants to bounce back from last year. He missed all of training camp and that was a tough start for him. He can now come in clear-minded and say I’m going to have my best year. That’s what I’m looking forward to. We’re going to get the best version of Jason Robertson and we’re going to benefit from that.
Earlier this offseason, AFP Analytics projected that a max-term eight-year extension for Robertson would cost the Stars just over $11.5MM per season. The new rules on maximum term are in effect until the new CBA extension officially starts on September 16, 2026 so a deal of that length will be doable when talks resume down the road. Regardless of when it happens, Robertson will be getting a much bigger payday when the 2026-27 season gets underway but we now know that it won’t be coming anytime soon.
Max Pacioretty Retires, Joins University Of Michigan’s Coaching Staff
Tuesday: Pacioretty has indeed retired with the University of Michigan announcing that the long-time NHLer has been hired as a special assistant to head coach Brandon Naurato. Pacioretty released the following statement:
After 17 seasons in the NHL, I’m excited to begin this next chapter with Michigan Hockey. I’m so thankful for the teammates, coaches and fans who have been a part of my journey. Hockey has given me so much, and now I have the opportunity to help develop the next generation of players. Michigan has a tradition of producing elite talent, and I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned to help these guys grow on and off the ice. Just as important, this next step allows me to be closer to my family and spend more time with my kids. I’m going to be coaching my four boys in youth hockey and that’s something I’ll really cherish as a dad.
Monday: One of the NHL’s better goal-scorers from the 2010s has reportedly hung up his skates. According to Nick Alberga of TheLeafsNation, instead of giving it one last shot in the NHL, veteran Max Pacioretty has chosen to hang up his skates and take a job at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.
Given that much of the conjecture surrounding Pacioretty this offseason was his desire to play close to Southeast Michigan, that effectively left his options down to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Although reporting from earlier in the summer indicated the Red Wings as his preferred destination, the team seemingly filled the void on the opening day of free agency by signing James van Riemsdyk.
Still, the New Canaan, CT native will get his desired outcome, albeit in a different role. Alberga didn’t allude to the exact position Pacorietty is taking in Ann Arbor, though it’s a fair guess to assume it’s with their hockey program.
Despite failing to find another job in the NHL, there’s very little for Pacioretty to feel ashamed about in his 17-year career.
He was originally selected with the 22nd overall pick of the 2007 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. He immediately shifted to the University of Michigan after being drafted, scoring 15 goals and 39 points in 37 games during his freshman season. The Canadiens felt that one season of growth was enough in the NCAA and signed Pacioretty to his entry-level contract after his impressive one-and-done campaign.
In the first three years of his professional career, Pacioretty split his time between Montreal and its then-AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. From the beginning of the 2008-09 season to the end of the 2010-11 campaign, Pacioretty scored 20 goals and 49 points in 123 games with the Canadiens, and 25 goals and 72 points with the Bulldogs in 82 contests.
Since the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign, Pacioretty hadn’t looked back. He exploded offensively, scoring 33 goals and 65 points in 79 games, nearly tripling his production from one year prior. Rewarding his success, the Canadiens signed Pacioretty to a six-year, $27MM extension the following offseason.
Over the next six years, despite some injury concerns, Pacioretty became a consistent scoring winger in Montreal and was named the team’s captain ahead of the 2015-16 season. Throughout that stretch, he crossed the 60-point threshold four times, scoring 173 goals and 334 points in 424 games. Additionally, although the Canadiens managed only one quality postseason run with Pacioretty on the roster, he scored 10 goals and 19 points in 38 postseason games with Montreal, averaging 19:29 of ice time per game.
Unfortunately, he would not play out the rest of his extension with the only organization he had ever known. The Canadiens traded Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights on July 13th, 2022, for Nick Suzuki, Tomáš Tatar, and a 2019 second-round pick. He signed a four-year, $28MM contract with the Golden Knights one day later.
His first three years in Vegas were impressive, scoring 78 goals and 157 points in 185 games after the team’s Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural campaign. He continued his quality scoring in the postseason, registering 15 goals and 30 points in 36 postseason contests for the Golden Knights.
Again, due to growing injury concerns and the need for additional cap space, the Golden Knights traded Pacioretty for the second time in his career, this time to the Carolina Hurricanes, along with Dylan Coghlan, for future considerations. In one of those unfortunate cases from the 2021-22 season, Pacioretty only managed five games with the Hurricanes due to two torn Achilles tendons.
Working his way back the following offseason and through much of the 2022-23 campaign, Pacioretty signed a bonus-laden one-year contract with the Washington Capitals. After returning to game action in early January, Pacioretty finished the year with four goals and 23 points in 47 games, with an additional assist in four postseason contests.
In what would become the last contract of his career, Pacioretty signed another bonus-laden deal, this time with the Maple Leafs. He struggled with injuries throughout the year, managing only five goals and 13 points in 37 games. Still, he was one of Toronto’s better performers in the playoffs, scoring three goals and eight points in 11 games, including the game-winner that allowed the Maple Leafs to move to the second round.
Pacioretty finishes his career with 335 goals and 681 points in 939 games, averaging 17:16 of ice time per contest. All of us at PHR congratulate “Patches” on a successful career and wish him the best as he moves to his next role at the University of Michigan.
Photo courtesy of Jean-Yves Ahern-Imagn Images.
Waivers: 9/30/25
The final day of September has once again brought a flurry of waiver activity. After 22 players were placed on waivers on Monday, all of whom cleared, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, another 22 players are on the wire today, per PuckPedia. They are as follows:
Calgary Flames
F Clark Bishop
F Dryden Hunt
D Yan Kuznetsov
F Sam Morton
Carolina Hurricanes
D Gavin Bayreuther
F Noel Gunler
F Tyson Jost
F Josiah Slavin
F Ryan Suzuki
Edmonton Oilers
New York Islanders
G Marcus Hogberg
F Matthew Highmore
New York Rangers
F Brendan Brisson
D Connor Mackey
Philadelphia Flyers
San Jose Sharks
F Shane Bowers
F Jimmy Huntington
F Oskar Olausson
F Pavol Regenda
G Jakub Skarek
Winnipeg Jets
D Tyrel Bauer
D Isaak Phillips
Some younger forwards stand out on today’s list. Olausson, Brisson and Suzuki were late first-round selections back in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively, but haven’t been able to grab a foothold on a full-time NHL roster spot just yet. Meanwhile, Gunler is only 23 and since he has spent a lot of his time since being drafted playing overseas, he’s still relatively inexperienced in North America with just 100 AHL games under his belt.
Among the blueliners, Phillips has seen NHL action in four straight seasons, all with Chicago, including a 33-game stint in 2023-24. Mackey was recalled and sent down many times on paper moves last season and has gotten into at least one NHL appearance in five straight years. Bayreuther is the most experienced of them all with 122 NHL outings but none since 2023-24.
With the belief that a few teams might be eyeing the goalie market, there are a trio of options available. Hogberg is the most experienced of the three with 57 NHL outings, including 15 last season. Skarek (two games in 2024-25) and Tomkins (six in 2023-24) joined new teams in free agency this summer and don’t appear likely to be claimed.
These players will be on waivers until 1:00 PM CT on Wednesday.
Snapshots: Vlasic, Ostlund, Sabourin, McCormick
Although he was cut in the leg in a collision on Sunday, it appears the Blackhawks got about the best-case scenario when it comes to defenseman Alex Vlasic. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times notes that while the blueliner won’t play in Chicago’s remaining three preseason games, he’s on track to be ready for the start of the regular season next week. The 24-year-old was a top-pairing player for the Blackhawks last season, notching a career-high 30 points while playing in every game and logging over 23 minutes per contest for the first time in his career. They’ll be counting on him to play a similar role this season.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Sabres center Noah Ostlund is listed as week-to-week with an undisclosed injury, relays Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald. The 21-year-old made his NHL debut last season, getting into eight games with Buffalo while notching 19 goals and 17 assists in 45 games with AHL Rochester. Ostlund will likely be ticketed for a return to the Americans upon being cleared to return. If that doesn’t happen before the start of the regular season, the Sabres will carry a small pro-rated cap charge relative to the number of days that Ostlund was on Buffalo’s roster last season.
- The Lightning announced that they have recalled winger Scott Sabourin from AHL Syracuse. Cut earlier this month, he’ll now get a chance to skate in another preseason game or two and stake his case for a possible in-season recall. Signed to a one-year, two-way deal this summer, the 33-year-old had 25 points and 111 penalty minutes while playing with San Jose’s AHL affiliate last season and has 47 career NHL appearances under his belt. Any time spent on the roster for the rest of the preseason won’t affect his waiver exemption which is 10 games or 30 days during the regular season.
- Veteran center Max McCormick’s season is over before it even began. AHL Coachella Valley, affiliate of the Kraken, announced that the 33-year-old will undergo hip surgery and that he is expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season as a result. McCormick was limited to just 19 games with the Firebirds last season where he had 13 points. He’s in the final season of a two-year pact with Seattle and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Nils Höglander Out Eight To Ten Weeks With Sprained Ankle
Sept. 30: Höglander will be missing quite a bit of time. The team announced that he has undergone successful lower-body surgery and will miss eight to ten weeks as a result. That would put him on track to return between late November and early December.
Sept. 26: Canucks winger Nils Höglander‘s availability for the beginning of the regular season is in doubt after the team announced Friday he’s been given a week-to-week designation with a lower-body injury, according to Jeff Paterson of Rink Wide: Vancouver. His injury is a sprained ankle, according to Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK.
Evidently, Höglander was banged up in Vancouver’s preseason win over the Flames on Wednesday. He scored the first goal of that 3-1 win, a power play marker. Shift and time on ice data for the game, which was played at the home of the Canucks’ AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, isn’t available. It’s unclear if he finished the contest or not.
Now entering his age-25 season, Höglander remains a bit of a unicorn. He’s undersized and flashy, but at 5’9″, he plays with a physical bend, recording 76 hits last year. The 2019 second-round pick has steadied his development and, over the past two seasons, has emerged as a consistent top-nine piece. He’s played in 152 out of 164 possible regular-season games during that frame and broke out in a big way in 2023-24, shooting at a 20% clip for a career high 24 goals while seeing a good chunk of time in the top six at even strength.
Like many other Canucks, last year wasn’t as fruitful for Höglander. His shooting percentage regressed to 9.6% and he finished the year with an 8-17–25 scoring line in 72 appearances. He was deployed as a Swiss army knife nonetheless, logging time seemingly everywhere in Vancouver’s top nine and not logging more than 90 total minutes with the same set of linemates.
His deployment in camp suggested he was ticketed for a middle-six role to start the campaign, perhaps on a third-line unit with Teddy Blueger and Conor Garland. He’s still got 13 days until Vancouver’s first regular-season game to recover. That’s unlikely but not impossible for a week-to-week timeline.
If he can’t go, the Canucks have some quality wing depth they can elevate. Drew O’Connor and Kiefer Sherwood combined for nearly 30 goals and 65 points last year. Either could seamlessly slot in next to Blueger and Garland, a combination that new head coach Adam Foote seems intent on keeping together. Former top-10 pick Vitali Kravtsov, whom the organization brought back over from Russia this offseason, could be the recipient of those minutes as well.
Training Camp Cuts: 9/30/25
There’s now one week to go until the regular season opens, meaning six days until opening night rosters are due. Most teams have gotten their last round of sweeping cuts done and now only have a handful of names to trim to get down to 23 players. We’ll keep track of additional cuts as they roll in today:
Carolina Hurricanes (per team announcement)
D Gavin Bayreuther (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
F Noel Gunler (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
F Tyson Jost (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
D Oliver Kylington (released from PTO)
F Kevin Labanc (released from PTO)
D Bryce Montgomery (to AHL Chicago)
F Bradly Nadeau (to AHL Chicago)
D Joel Nyström (to AHL Chicago)
G Nikita Quapp (to AHL Chicago)
F Justin Robidas (to AHL Chicago)
F Ivan Ryabkin (to AHL Chicago)
F Josiah Slavin (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
F Ryan Suzuki (to AHL Chicago, pending waivers)
F Gleb Trikozov (to AHL Chicago)
F Felix Unger Sörum (to AHL Chicago)
Calgary Flames (per team announcement)
F Clark Bishop (to AHL Calgary pending waiver clearance)
D Hunter Brzustewicz (to AHL Calgary)
D Nick Cicek (to AHL Calgary)
D Artem Grushnikov (to AHL Calgary)
F Samuel Honzek (to AHL Calgary)
F Dryden Hunt (to AHL Calgary pending waiver clearance)
D Yan Kuznetsov (to AHL Calgary pending waiver clearance)
F Sam Morton (to AHL Calgary pending waiver clearance)
G Owen Say (to AHL Calgary)
F William Stromgren (to AHL Calgary)
F Aydar Suniev (to AHL Calgary)
Chicago Blackhawks (per team announcement)
D Kevin Korchinski (to AHL Rockford)
Los Angeles Kings (per team announcement)
D Parker Berge (released from PTO to AHL Ontario)
F Aatu Jämsen (to AHL Ontario)
F Kaleb Lawrence (to AHL Ontario)
F Koehn Ziemmer (to AHL Ontario)
Minnesota Wild (per team announcement)
F Brett Leason (released from PTO)
New York Rangers (per Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic)
F Anton Blidh (to AHL Hartford)
G Talyn Boyko (to AHL Hartford)
F Brendan Brisson (to AHL Hartford, pending waivers)
G Dylan Garand (to AHL Hartford)
D Blake Hillman (released from PTO to AHL Hartford)
D Connor Mackey (to AHL Hartford, pending waivers)
F Bryce McConnell-Barker (to AHL Hartford)
F Brennan Othmann (to AHL Hartford)
F Dylan Roobroeck (to AHL Hartford)
D Brandon Scanlin (to AHL Hartford)
F Carey Terrance (to AHL Hartford)
Nashville Predators (per team announcement)
D Kevin Gravel (to AHL Milwaukee)
F Jake Lucchini (to AHL Milwaukee)
G Matt Murray (to AHL Milwaukee)
F Navrin Mutter (to AHL Milwaukee)
D Jordan Oesterle (to AHL Milwaukee)
Philadelphia Flyers (per team announcement)
D Emil Andrae (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Denver Barkey (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
G Carson Bjarnason (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Alex Bump (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Alexis Gendron (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Helge Grans (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Devin Kaplan (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
G Aleksei Kolosov (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Hunter McDonald (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
D Ty Murchison (to AHL Lehigh Valley)
F Anthony Richard (to AHL Lehigh Valley pending waiver clearance)
San Jose Sharks (per team announcement)
F Filip Bystedt (to AHL San Jose)
G Gabriel Carriere (to AHL San Jose)
F Igor Chernyshov (to AHL San Jose)
D Cole Clayton (to AHL San Jose)
G Matt Davis (to AHL San Jose)
D Jake Furlong (to AHL San Jose)
D Braden Hache (to AHL San Jose)
F Kasper Halttunen (to AHL San Jose)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (released from PTO to AHL San Jose)
While not listed in today’s cuts by the team, forwards Shane Bowers, Jimmy Huntington, Oskar Olausson, and Pavol Regenda along with goaltender Jakub Skarek are on waivers today.
Washington Capitals (per team announcement)
D Cam Allen (to AHL Hershey)
F Terik Parascak (to WHL Prince George)
F Patrick Thomas (to AHL Hershey)
Mats Zuccarello Out “Minimum” Of Seven To Eight Weeks
While the Wild ensured one top-six winger will be staying with the club long-term earlier today, they’ve lost another in the short term. The team confirmed Mats Zuccarello will miss a “minimum” of seven to eight weeks with the lower-body injury that’s sidelined him for all of training camp so far.
There was concern Zuccarello would miss the start of the regular season back at the beginning of camp. This is a bit more significant than just the start of the season, though. A seven-to-eight-week timeline from today puts his most optimistic return date on Nov. 18, by which Minnesota will have already played a quarter of its season. In all likelihood, it could be Thanksgiving or even further down the calendar until he’s able to make his season debut.
Now 38 years old, the 5’8″ Zuccarello has kept up his reputation as a consistent top-six scorer in what should be his twilight years. The Norwegian forward ranked fourth on the team with a 19-39–54 scoring line in 69 appearances last year, his sixth in Minnesota after first signing there as a free agent in 2019. While injuries have remained a concern – he hasn’t hit the 70-game mark in the past two years – he’s clicked above expectations since signing with the Wild and has scored at a 70-point clip per 82 games during his time there.
That’s a sizable absence in the scoring department, especially considering he still averaged over 19:30 of ice time per game last year. While he’s spent a good portion of his tenure in St. Paul opposite Kirill Kaprizov on the top line, Matt Boldy ended up getting that job in the playoffs last year after Kaprizov returned from surgery. Zuccarello dropped down to a middle-six role with Marcus Johansson and Frédérick Gaudreau, the latter of whom has since been traded to the Kraken. Since he hasn’t been in camp, it’s hard to predict where the Wild planned on slotting him this season, but it likely would have been in second-line duties while keeping the top line loaded with Boldy.
Zuccarello’s top-six vacancy could mean increased opportunity for veteran Vladimir Tarasenko to start the year. The Wild picked him up from the Red Wings for future considerations over the summer after the four-time All-Star had just 11 goals and 33 points in 80 games for Detroit. The Wild are now his sixth team in the last four years, but he could get a shot at second-line duties with Joel Eriksson Ek as his centerman. There’s also a clear path for one of the Wild’s recent first-rounders, namely Liam Ohgren and Danila Yurov, to snag top-nine roles as they look to establish themselves as full-timers.
One player who won’t be getting an opportunity in the lineup is 220-game veteran Brett Leason. He was released from his PTO today, the club announced. He had a 5-12–17 scoring line in 62 games for the Ducks last year before being non-tendered.
Hurricanes Release Oliver Kylington, Kevin Labanc
The Hurricanes released defenseman Oliver Kylington and winger Kevin Labanc from their professional tryouts, according to a team announcement. The duo is part of a good chunk of camp cuts from the Canes today, although fellow PTO invitee Givani Smith remains with the organization for now.
Kylington signed a PTO after splitting the 2024-25 season between the Avalanche and the Ducks. The left-shot rearguard missed over two months with a lower-body injury in the middle of the season, which, combined with declining play, contributed to him only making 19 appearances. He managed a 1-4–5 scoring line with a -2 rating while averaging just 12:18 per game, recording 18 blocks and three hits.
A second-round pick by the Flames back in 2015, Kylington once looked like a potential top-four piece. He broke out for 31 points and a +34 rating in 73 appearances for Calgary back in 2021-22, but he then missed over a year and a half while on mental health-related leave. His return to the game in January 2024 made him a Masterton Trophy finalist at season’s end. Unfortunately, it looks like that lost time means his days of being an everyday NHLer might be behind him. He was competing with other reclamation-type depth puck-movers like Mike Reilly for an NHL job in Carolina’s camp, but Reilly, along with preseason standout Charles-Alexis Legault, bumped him out of consideration.
Labanc, 29, was in an NHL camp on a PTO for the second straight year. Last season, he attended New Jersey’s camp on a tryout basis and landed an NHL deal with the Blue Jackets immediately after getting released. He’ll hope a similar outcome awaits him this time around.
The New York native was also limited by injuries last year, missing the last two months of the campaign due to shoulder surgery. When healthy, he got into Columbus’ lineup 34 times and scored two goals and 10 assists for 12 points.
The club has 23 skaters left in camp, leaving only two cuts still to make. The final forward spot is likely down to Smith and Juha Jaaska, while Legault is still in the mix to upset Reilly and start the year as Carolina’s seventh defenseman.
Wild Extend Kirill Kaprizov
Kirill Kaprizov is staying put and setting the market. The Wild have announced an eight-year extension for their superstar winger that will pay out a record-setting AAV of $17MM through the 2033-34 campaign. That’s a total value of $136MM. He was previously slated to hit the unrestricted free agent market following the 2025-26 season.
All but $8MM of that $136MM figure will come via signing bonuses, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports, along with an expected full no-movement clause for the duration of the deal. His base salary will only be $1MM per season. He will earn an $18.1MM bonus on July 1 from 2026-29 before that number drops to $16MM for 2030, $14.2MM for 2031, and $12.7MM for 2032 and 2033. It doesn’t change the cap picture for the Wild, but it does make the deal essentially buyout-proof, since signing bonus money is not affected by buyouts. Signing bonus money also carries more projectable tax rates since it’s taxed at the rate of a player’s primary residence, whereas base salary is taxed depending on the location of games. As PuckPedia notes, this structure could result in an increased cap hit for Kaprizov in the latter years of the deal since the league minimum salary is expected to increase beyond $1MM past 2030.
It will be the largest deal in NHL history by measure of total value as well, finally breaking the record Alex Ovechkin set with his 13-year, $124MM extension nearly two decades ago. Of course, the institution of an eight-year maximum extension length in the 2013 CBA prevented a deal from eclipsing that total value for quite some time. It’s also a drastic jump in terms of record-setting AAVs. Just over a year ago, Leon Draisaitl‘s extension with the Oilers, which carries a $14MM cap hit, set the mark. That’s a 21.4% increase in the league’s highest AAV in less than 13 months, far greater than the 8.9% increase the salary cap is projected to see next season.
It’s an important resolution after news leaked a few weeks ago that Kaprizov rejected an eight-year, $ 16MM AAV offer from Minnesota, which would have also been the largest contract in league history. While it would have been just a minor setback in talks if it had been contained, the information being made public understandably created an uncomfortable dynamic for both sides entering the season. The Wild had to lay heavy on the damage control front over the past several days as a result, rejecting speculation that they had asked for his trade list (he has an NMC as part of his expiring deal) amid concerns they might lose him for nothing next summer.
Instead, Kaprizov’s camp, led by TMI’s Paul Theofanous, gets the happy ending they hoped for – a scenario they thought out when only negotiating a five-year deal when his entry-level contract expired in 2021. Kaprizov, an age-28 season that sits right at the top of the aging curve, is never going to have a higher market value than he has today. It’s unlikely he would have been able to net much more than $17MM on the open market, either – a deal that would have netted him considerably less guaranteed cash because of the seven-year cap on UFA signings compared to extensions.
While Kaprizov is the lifeblood of Minnesota’s offense and inarguably the best talent in franchise history, it’s a tad jarring to see his name now atop the list of the league’s highest-paid players. He’s an elite scorer and the top left-winger in the game at the moment. Still, his points-per-game production over the past few seasons (1.24 since 2022-23) simply isn’t on par with names like Connor McDavid (1.71), Nathan MacKinnon (1.58), Nikita Kucherov (1.57), or even Draisaitl (1.47). Yet his deal takes up 16.35% of the salary cap at its start, higher than each of those names’ current deals did when they were signed.
It’s nonetheless a necessary price to pay for the Wild, who still have a considerable amount of financial flexibility moving forward and can ensure their top player remains with the club throughout their contention window, which is only just beginning with multiple promising under-25 talents in the organization yet to reach their stride fully. As recent first-rounders like Marco Rossi, Liam Ohgren, Danila Yurov, and Zeev Buium develop into their primes, they’ll be doing so with Kaprizov in his late 20s and early 30s, still at the top of his game.
Kaprizov did not have that same billing. He’s one of the great draft steals of the era, falling to the Wild in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. He spent the following five years developing into a star in his native Russia, earning five consecutive KHL All-Star selections during that period while twice leading the league in goals. He also clinched a gold medal for Russia at the Winter Olympics in 2018. After reaching new heights with a career-high 33 goals and 62 points in 57 games for CSKA Moscow in 2019-20, Kaprizov finally made the jump to Minnesota and kicked off his NHL career with the COVID-shortened 2021 season.
He was an immediate star, posting a 27-24–51 scoring line in 55 appearances to lead the Wild, taking home Calder Trophy honors and finishing 15th in MVP voting. That’s the only season of his five-year NHL career so far where he hasn’t managed to reach the point-per-game mark.
Last season was on pace to be a career-best. If healthy, he would have hit the 100-point mark for the first time since hitting 108 in his sophomore year. Unfortunately, a lower-body injury he sustained around Thanksgiving resulted in him being in and out of the lineup for the remainder of the campaign and eventually going under the knife. He finished with a 25-31–56 scoring line in 41 games, on pace for 50 goals and 112 points if he played a full 82. That would have placed him third in the league in scoring behind Kucherov and MacKinnon.
Playing that full 82 is something Kaprizov has never done, though, and that’s where the most significant risk lies in such a rich bet on his future. After missing only one game each in his first two seasons, Kaprizov has now missed 63 games over the past three years – over a quarter of Minnesota’s games. An upper-body injury caused him to miss seven games in 2023-24, while a leg injury took away 14 games during the 2022-23 campaign.
Even with Kaprizov taking up such a significant amount of space, the Wild still have over $23MM in projected cap space for next season with 16 roster spots already accounted for, per PuckPedia. The quickly-rising cap, plus making it through the most impactful years of the Ryan Suter and Zach Parise buyouts, has left the Wild with enviable flexibility. They have three core pieces – Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, and Brock Faber – signed through at least the end of the decade as well.
ESPN’s Kevin Weekes first broke the news that an extension was imminent. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added that it was an eight-year term with a cap hit north of $16MM.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.