Wild GM Guerin Denies Report of Kirill Kaprizov Rejecting Contract Offer – Wilderness Walk

The Minnesota Wild were the sole focus of the hockey world on Wednesday. After reports of Kirill Kaprizov rejecting an eight-year, $128-million contract offer from the Wild surfaced, it was panic from the State of Hockey with more and more thoughts of losing the team’s most talented player ever, and the other 31 fan bases salivating at the Russian star signing with their team.

But hold your horses.

Just hours after the report, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin appeared on a podcast to cut through the weeds and tell his side of the story. According to him, it’s pure fiction.

“I don’t know where this stuff comes from. I know two things: That info didn’t come from us, and it didn’t come from Kirill’s agent,” Guerin said via 10,000 Takes. “I don’t know where it came from. Kirill and the organization, his agent and I, have a very good relationship. We’re not going to let things like this get in the way. I still think we’re in a real positive place with Kirill and like I said, part of my role is to protect him, so we’re going to let this go and we just move on.”

Will that be the end of it? No, of course not. The general manager has so many reasons to not be completely honest and to not make the biggest contract negotiation in franchise history, out in the open.

We’ll only get the full story when a contract is or isn’t signed, but the back and forth has started.

• If the contract offer rejection is true. Where do the Wild go from here? Do we need to start thinking about a potential trade if Kaprizov is rejecting Minnesota? Should they just stick it out? [Hockey Wilderness]
• More on the alleged contract rejection from The Athletic’s Michael Russo. [The Athletic]

Off the trail…

• Hey look, more news of another lucrative contract negotiation. Jack Eichel is taking the “business as usual” approach when it comes to his upcoming season despite being a pending free agent with the Vegas Golden Knights. [NHL.com]
• Sidney Crosby is starting to be reflective. Now, he’s talking about how the current Pittsburgh Penguins’ struggles makes him appreciative of all the times they were a good hockey team. [TheScore]
• Quinn Hughes talks his own contract situation with the Vancouver Canucks and potential desire to play with his brother. [Sportsnet]

Think you could write a story like this? Hockey Wilderness wants you to develop your voice, find an audience, and we’ll pay you to do it. Just fill out this form.