Teammate Mikhail Grigorenko outscored KK in 2018-19, teammates Maxim Shalunov and Sergei Shumakov tied him in 2017-18. Those aren't elite names. Marner led his NHL team in scoring both years.

KK only led his KHL team in 2019-20. Marner was 2nd on his NHL team but tied 1st place Auston Matthews in P/GP.

He put up great numbers playing with Victor Rask and Mats Zucarello. At some point he’ll get to play on a line with 2 of Rossi/Boldy/Fiala/JEE.

Overpay for a sophomore

Uh, but KK did come into the NHL and play at a ridiculous level. It's not the same as Koskinen at all.. lol

I'm talking about NHL linemates. Marner has been playing with Matthews and Tavares. Kaprizov? Elite sniper Victor Rask..

Be interested to see how this contract looks in a few years. $9 million is a lot for just a 55 game sample size albeit a very strong 55 games he had. If he continues his strong play than it looks like a fair contract, but he he regresses and can't live up to his rookie season....well this contract could get ugly really fast.

Top-30 in the NHL is good, not ridiculous.

Tavares? I don't think Marner plays with Tavares.

But you're ignoring the massive gap in performance between Marner and Kaprizov this year: Marner was 4th in the NHL in scoring race, Kaprizov was tied with 2 others for 22nd.

You're valuing assists the same as goals. That's where your logic is breaking down, especially when playing with Tavares and Matthews for his entire career. Goals are worth much more. Marner is a fine player, but he's way overvalued.

And you're ignoring the linemates they played with who helped them get those point totals. Just gonna ignore the troll and move on. lol

I really hope that Kaprizov lives up to his contract, but I don't think he's proven enough TODAY to be worth that deal at all. His closest comp IMO is Kyle Connor, and he's getting about $2M more per year then the WPG winger.

I have been waiting to post in here.
I have mixed feelings on this contract.

I really dislike the precedent this contract is setting, less than 1 season equals 9 million AAV?

Wild definitely needed to sign Kaprizov.


The issue for the Wild will be in the years after this season, for next 3 seasons, so much dead cap space.

It’s a lot of money, but 4+ years of term was the most important thing, so I can live with it. I think he’ll continue to be the stud he was.

Honestly I was hoping for $8.4M x 5 so Guerin’s only long term contracts kept the same trend of $42M deals (Brodin $6Mx7 and Ek $5.25Mx8).

I agree. He was rookie of the year but that wasn't a $9M season. They're gambling that he gets better, which is less likely for him than other players coming off their entry level deals because he's already 24. At his age I don't know if he was eligible to sign a bridge deal that would have kept him restricted afterward, but I think that would have been more appropriate. Teams that give big contracts to players who've had only one good season often come to regret it.

Friendly reminder that data suggests a forward peaks at 24-26 so you are paying top dollar for a forward who's likely not going to get better

Yes and no for the signing.

Yes. The deal itself is a little high, but not outrageous.

No. Because of all the dead cap MN ends up with $42.5m in cap used for the 24-25 season with only 4 players signed.

He would have been UFA eligible in 3 years. If we offered him a 1 or 2 year deal, he could have just taken himself to UFA on his own through arbitration. The only way we could guarantee we got him locked down for a day past his first day of UFA eligibility was to give him term now. That's why Guerin was offering nothing but 7 and 8 year deals at the start of negotiations.

Yeah, he's only a sophomore, but he also looks to be the team's centerpiece, even though he doesn't play center. If this is what it takes to keep him happy and wanting to stay in Minnesota, then I say why not

LOL