Guerin not worried about Kaprizov
NHL.com: Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin isn’t concerned about how contract negotiations with restricted free agent forward Kirill Kaprizov are going.
“I think things are going well enough. We still have lots of time, there’s no rush or panic. I’m in constant communication with Kirill’s agent. We continue to move forward.”
Guerin added that he’d like to re-sign Kaprizov to a long-term deal and that he isn’t concerned about the reports that Kaprizov could return to the KHL.
Fiala back for a year, Wild working on Kaprizov and Shaw
Michael Russo of The Athletic: The Minnesota Wild signed Kevin Fiala to a one-year, $5.1 million deal yesterday. Fiala had been hoping for a long-term, big-money deal but they never really got close.
“We would have loved to get Kevin on a longer-term deal. But after a while, in going back and forth, it just seemed like we weren’t going to be able to get anything done. And, with the arbitration date coming (Tuesday), it just worked out that we could settle on a one-year deal. We’re very happy to have Kevin back in the mix. There’s no threat of missing training camp, and he can just kind of focus on being ready for training camp and his conditioning and all that stuff.”
Fiala will be owed a $5.1 million qualifying offer and is arbitration-eligible again next offseason. He would be a UFA in 2023.
The Wild are working on a contract for RFA forward Mason Shaw.
The Wild have made seven- and eight-year offers to Kirill Kaprizov in the $9 million per season range, and are now moving on to four- to six-year deals for Kaprizov. Kaprizov and his reps have been looking for a short-term deal. He would be a UFA in 2024.
The Wild have over $14 million in salary cap space but that isn’t for a full roster.
Guerin doesn’t appear to be interested in bringing anyone in on PTO unless they have a real shot at making the team.