ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 There was a tense moment after the Minnesota Wild\u2019s season finale Wednesday night when Kirill Kaprizov was asked about having no shots on goal in an elimination game.<\/p>\n
He reacted tersely, like he didn\u2019t understand the question.<\/p>\n
But two days later, after his exit news conference with reporters, he explained to the reporter who asked the question that he truly didn\u2019t understand the question because it was surprising to him to be told he had no shots on goal in the season-ending loss to the Colorado Avalanche.<\/p>\n
Kaprizov ran into Mats Zuccarello during the conversation with the reporter, then laughed, saying that he and Zuccarello even watched the game over again Thursday \u201cand I had shots. Don\u2019t believe the stats.\u201d<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s day and age, shots are no longer recorded solely from hundreds of feet away by off-ice officials in the press box. It\u2019s done via video and the NHL\u2019s EDGE puck and player tracking technology, plus audited in real time by a third party. That\u2019s why you\u2019ll often see shots added or subtracted throughout and immediately after games. So, according to the computerized protractors or whatever they use, Kaprizov had four shots that were either blocked or just missed the net.<\/p>\n
Regardless, the whole sequence was a reminder of just how much focus will be on Kaprizov in the years ahead as his brand-new eight-year, $136 million contract kicks in with an $18.1 million signing bonus on July 1. That comes with the territory when you sign the richest deal in NHL history at $17 million AAV, resetting the superstar market despite the fact that players like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kyle Connor and others signed for significantly less in the days after.<\/p>\n
The reality is Kaprizov was one of the better players in that season-ending defeat, playing great defensively, blocking shots and creating chances. And when the game turned in the last 3 \u00bd minutes with two goals against as the Avs forced overtime, Kaprizov had a view of the mistakes made by a handful of veterans from the bench.<\/p>\n
Zuccarello says the pressure is always there for every athlete, especially Kaprizov.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter what you make,\u201d Zuccarello said. \u201cIt\u2019s not his fault that he\u2019s a good player and he\u2019s making whatever he\u2019s making. He\u2019s been a big part of this team. You guys have been around, see how special a player he is, and hopefully you\u2019re gonna get more of the same. And hopefully he just comes in with a smile on his face \u2014 that\u2019s when he plays the best, and don\u2019t think about all the outside noise.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if you\u2019re top player like he is, you\u2019re still gonna have some games \u2014 it\u2019s a long season, you know, 82 (games), next year 84 \u2014 (where) you go through spells where your body feels not quite there, and everyone says, \u2018Whoa, what happened?\u2019 \u2026 I think the top players, they don\u2019t get that as often that the rest of us does. But that\u2019s just a human; it\u2019s hard to be on top every game. It could be life situations that happen at home, whatever, and still, they\u2019re trying to do the best for the team. So I just think for him to not think about everything around (the contract). He\u2019s an emotional guy. Just think about having fun, that\u2019s when you play the best, and that\u2019s the most important thing for him. Just keep doing what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the best moves Paul Fenton made during his 14 months as Minnesota\u2019s GM was signing Zuccarello, ironic since Fenton was fired less than a month later and never sat in the big chair to watch Zuccarello play a single game for the Wild.<\/p>\n
Besides the fact he\u2019s been a great player on the ice \u2014 fourth all-time in Wild history with 271 assists, sixth with 389 points, second with .6 assists per game and fifth with .86 points per game \u2014 who knew he would become such a positive influence for Kaprizov a season later once Kaprizov debuted?<\/p>\n
Beyond the chemistry the two have on the ice, it\u2019s Zuccarello who often keeps Kaprizov level-headed. It\u2019s Zuccarello who helped Kaprizov transition so well off the ice coming over from Russia when at the time the Wild didn\u2019t have a single Russian player on the team.<\/p>\n
Nobody, Zuccarello says, puts more pressure on himself than Kaprizov, who is proud to be part of a core that includes Matt Boldy, Quinn Hughes, Brock Faber and Joel Eriksson Ek.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the players are like that, that you expect the most from yourself,\u201d Zuccarello said. \u201cEspecially me or older guys. I know when I\u2019m playing bad. I like that you guys remind me and stuff, but \u2026 we know when we\u2019re not playing our best. That\u2019s when you\u2019re the hardest on yourself. Then you guys know the world right now \u2014 everyone has access to you. Even the pressure you put on yourself and then imagine these younger guys \u2026 what they take from everything else. So, that\u2019s a lot to bear at times. Even though we\u2019re professional athletes and we\u2019re paid well to do what we do, and we love what we do, we\u2019re still human beings with feelings.<\/p>\n
\u201cStuff can get to you. \u2026 Luckily, I\u2019m old. Even at my age, if you see something, you\u2019re like, \u2018F\u2014 that guy.\u2019 \u2026 It affects you. We\u2019re humans. You can read 100 good comments about yourself and like I\u2019ve told you (before), there\u2019s one that someone doesn\u2019t, that\u2019s the one that bothers you instead of focusing on the other ones. I think that\u2019s important in general, just to enjoy. We know we got a big responsibility to Minnesota. We love it here. It\u2019s the State of Hockey. We would love to win a championship here. That\u2019s the goal of everyone, and we know the pressure that comes with it and we embrace that. But at the same time, we are human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaprizov doesn\u2019t think there will be great pressure on himself with the new big ticket.<\/p>\n
He is excited that he\u2019s signed, however, after an entire offseason last year where he couldn\u2019t escape constant chatter from the outside about whether he would or would not sign an extension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice when people don\u2019t ask you all summer about what you think you have to do and all this stuff,\u201d he said, smiling. \u201cJust I can just be focused on myself this summer and keep practicing and come back here in September and stay positive and keep playing my best game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The person, coincidentally, who will have to endure all the questions about his future is Zuccarello, a pending free agent. He\u2019ll be 39 at the start of next season, but after not committing to wanting to play past this year all season, Zuccarello says now he wants to play a year or two more. Wild president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Guerin told The Athletic last week the Wild have interest in re-signing Zuccarello: \u201cWe\u2019ll take care of that in the offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obviously, the contract would have to make sense \u2014 whether it\u2019s a one- or two-year deal at likely less money than his expiring $4.125 million a year deal or a bonus-laden 35-year-old-plus contract.<\/p>\n
Asked kiddingly if he has told Kaprizov he didn\u2019t leave much money for him, Zuccarello joked, \u201cWell, he gives me cash. \u2026 Kirill\u2019s earned every dollar he gets, and I\u2019m super happy for him and the city to get him and to have him for the next eight years. He\u2019s a special, special player, and there\u2019s a lot of special players here \u2014 Bolds, Faber, Hughes, \u2026 Zuccarello. No, it\u2019s exciting for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zuccarello \u2014 aka Mr. Sarcasm \u2014 also joked that he \u201cbetter sign before (extension-eligible Hughes) takes the rest of it. There\u2019s going to be nothing left for me then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaprizov badly wants Zuccarello back, and that alone should cinch his eventual re-signing. Let\u2019s be honest: It has been a successful seven years for Zuccarello in Minnesota.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know how many years, if it\u2019s 15 or 16 or whatever I\u2019ve played, and I played seven of them here, and I would say hockey-wise this is probably my six best years in hockey in terms of how you feel playing-wise,\u201d Zuccarello said. \u201cThat also comes a little bit with age. You\u2019re getting more comfortable with (Minnesota) and stuff like that, but it also comes with playing with a player that kind of knows where I want him to be, and he also knows where I\u2019m going to be. You gotta give credit also to (Ryan Hartman) and some of the guys that have been playing in the middle there and done a really good job as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut obviously there\u2019s no secret that we have a good relationship on and off the ice, and that of course has a big part in it for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaprizov was obviously disappointed by the ending of the season, but the Wild\u2019s all-time leading goal scorer with 230 in just six seasons (two pandemic-shortened)\u00a0feels the team made a big step this season and will only continue to grow and become a Stanley Cup contender.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have really good year, like in the season,\u201d Kaprizov said. \u201cPlayoffs, we play good and I think first round we play really good against really good team. Second round, too. It\u2019s always you want to be champion and win. Everyone know this. It was good series and it\u2019s just feel this year, it\u2019s like not something done, you know? Think team played really good hockey this year. Everyone just feeling this year something different, not just we play season and then like, \u2018OK, maybe we win. Maybe not.\u2019 Everyone was so excited and believe so much we can beat everyone. But obviously it\u2019s not what we wanted losing in the second round.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PAUL, Minn. \u2014 There was a tense moment after the Minnesota Wild\u2019s season finale Wednesday night when…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":650380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[4828,385,99],"class_list":["post-650379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}