The Toronto Maple Leafs know a whole lot about star players who want to be paid the most amount of money possible. But, could they be the beneficiary of a certain Minnesota Wild winger named Kirill Kaprizov not being happy with the contract offers he's getting?
On Wednesday afternoon, NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported that Kaprizov recently rejected a contract offer from the Wild that would make him the highest paid player in the NHL and the player with the largest contract in league history. He rejected that. Eight years at $16 million per season.
Sources say #mnwild superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s camp turned down an extension offer believed to be 8-years, $128 million in a meeting on Tuesday in Minnesota that would have made him the highest-paid player in #NHL history in both AAV ($16 million) and total dollars.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 10, 2025
That's something. This signals a couple things. First, it's not just about the money. If it was, Kaprizov would happily accept that and for at least a couple years -- since you know Connor McDavid is taking a discount to try and win a Stanley Cup -- would be earning the most in the entire NHL. Or, the focus would be on him trying to re-sign in Minnesota on a short-term contract like the Leafs' own Auston Matthews has.
Second, the fact is that the 28-year-old star would be committing the rest of his career to stay in Minnesota and on a team that hasn't won a playoff round in 10 years and has gotten out of the first round just twice in its history. That is probably something he doesn't want to do -- so Kaprizov might just be eyeing up other destinations.
That is why the Toronto Maple Leafs need to get in on the action. The pending unrestricted free agent, if not re-signed in the next couple of months, could be the best trade deadline rental piece since the salary cap has come to the NHL.
Better than Mikko Rantanen just last season, and better than any third-line scrub that is moved for way too many draft picks. Kaprizov would be as much of a sure thing to force your team to win a couple rounds as anyone in the league, and that is why the Leafs need to do this.
It has gone for too long that we have just simply hoped for this team's regular season success to turn into something in the postseason. The core that we have come to know has now become a thing of the past and we are embarking on a new journey where there are star players taking discounts, young players staying in Toronto on reasonable contracts, and the next few years of Auston Matthews and William Nylander still together as the salary cap ceiling increases in the NHL.
Now is the time to strike and pour every resource they have when a player like Kaprizov is available. It is still incredibly uncertain even if a trade is on the table -- since the Wild themselves have playoff hopes and dreams. But in a month or two, and if Minnesota falters ever so slightly to start its season, we know that there will be teams hounding general manager Bill Guerin to see how much it would take to pry the Russian star out of St. Paul; and the Leafs need to be one of them.
Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, virtually every prospect and draft pick that the Leafs have possession of for the next four or five years -- send them to Minnesota to try and get this MVP-level star for even just a few months and really try.
Just try to envision the fact that the Leafs can run out with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on the first line, and then a trio of Kirill Kaprizov, John Tavares, and William Nylander on the second. That would maybe be the most talent we have seen in one top six since you could pass the puck forward.
Maybe this is just us dreaming during a contract negotiation taking place in the middle of the continent, but it is something the Leafs need to consider. Because if they start off very well this season, we will be conjuring up the top-end deadline buys they can make almost immediately. And Kaprizov would be at the very, very top.