Minnesota Wild make another huge investment with Kirill Kaprizov

The length of the deal is the biggest key. Kaprizov’s eight-year extension will kick in at the start of the 2026 season when he’s 29. He’ll be 36 at the start of the last year of the deal. Suter and Parise each turned 28 in the first year of those 13-year contracts. Their deals were bought out with four years left when they were roughly the same age that Kaprizov will be when his deal is over. Kaprizov might experience some decline near the end of his contract, but it would be stunning if he was a buyout candidate by then.

Kaprizov’s contract might not ever seem like a true bargain, but with the NHL salary cap projected to reach $113.5 million by 2027-28, his $17 million would account for a little less than 15% of the cap. That’s less than the percentage of space Suter and Parise’s buyouts were taking up in the worst years.

Kaprizov is a true star, a Grade A player being paid Grade A money. There are questions about his health but not his impact. I always had the feeling that Parise and Suter were B-plus caliber players being paid Grade A money. This is a better bet than the one the Wild made 13 years ago.

Also on Wednesday’s podcast, the Star Tribune’s Cassidy Hettesheimer joined to talk about Napheesa Collier’s strong words regarding WNBA management. You can watch the entire segment, including Collier’s statement, here:

Randy Johnson was also a guest on Wednesday’s podcast talking about the Gophers football team and young QB Drake Lindsey, who seems a little low on this ESPN ranking of 68 Power Four QBs for my tastes.

The Vikings will face rookie QB Dillon Gabriel on Sunday in England instead of 40-year-old veteran Joe Flacco. The Browns benched Flacco on Wednesday.

Who will snap the ball to Vikings QB Carson Wentz, however, is a mystery. Starting center Ryan Kelly and backup Michael Jurgens both missed practice Wednesday with injuries.

Mark this down as the quote to remember from Twins boss Derek Falvey on Tuesday when talking about the search to replace fired manager Rocco Baldelli: “If you’re in a market like ours and you’re going to bring up players, you’re going to bring up guys that aren’t quite there yet. They need to be given runway, need to be given development and need to grow at this level.”

Cleveland had a remarkable rally to overtake Detroit as AL Central champs, but the Tigers still made the playoffs as a Wild Card and took Game 1 over the Guardians on Tuesday. Game 2, with Cleveland needing a win to stay alive, is Wednesday afternoon.

Timberwolves writer Chris Hine will join me on Thursday’s podcast to answer key questions about the team’s plan at point guard and for an emerging young core of players.

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