Bill Guerin of the Minnesota Wild, left, and Mike Grier of the San Jose Sharks (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
While NHL fans and media were amazed when the Edmonton Oilers signed center Leon Draisaitl to the league’s richest contract (eight years, $112 million) on Sept. 3, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin was not surprised.
“We’re going into a whole different world with contracts,” Guerin told RG in an exclusive interview. “They’re getting bigger, and that’s just because the business is bigger and bigger and better and better.”
Guerin’s best player, Kirill Kaprizov, will surely be up for a mega-contract when his contract expires on June 30, 2026. However, Draisaitl’s and other recent contracts don’t have Guerin scrambling yet, and they likely won’t when the time comes to hopefully extend Kaprizov.
“I don’t push the panic button or start diving into what-ifs though right now,” Guerin said. “We’re two years away from Kirill being a free agent. They are what they are; the contracts are what they are, and we just have to be ready for it when the time comes.”
Surprisingly, after Kaprizov scored 46 goals and had 50 assists in 75 games last season, Guerin would like to see even more from his star forward. The Wild GM was asked to list some players he wants to have bounce-back seasons, and Kaprizov was on that list.
“Yeah, I think that’s it. We need some players to get back to the level we know they can play at and do it from the start,” Guerin said. “You know Freddie Gaudreau was banged up most of the year and didn’t have a great year. So, he needs to have a bounce-back season. Same with Marcus Johansson.
If Kaprizov does have a better season and surpasses the 100-point plateau for a second time this coming season and/or the following one, he surely will be in for a huge payday. The 2023-24 NHL salary cap will be $88 million, and some project that by the time Kaprizov’s contract is up, the cap could be close to $100 million. Whatever it is, Guerin and the Wild will be ready. That’s because the Minnesota Wild and every NHL team have dedicated staff that simply focus on the salary cap and all it encompasses.
“On my side, on the hockey end of it, I have someone whose only job and role,” Guerin said. “On the business side - there’s a whole other side to an NHL or sports team - and that’s the business side. There are a number of people who are talking about this, meeting about this, and working on this every day. Then you have people at the league level who are doing this, and they’re constantly in touch with teams on what the cap could wind up going. So we’re never just guessing or trying to blindly figure it out. There is a lot of concrete info that we go off of for planning purposes.”
With 24 years of experience (SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, ESPN Boston, NESN, NHL.com, etc.) covering the Bruins, the NHL, NCAA and junior hockey, and more, Jimmy Murphy’s hockey black book is filled with Hall of Famers, current players, coaches, management, scouts and a wide array of hockey media personalities that have lived in and around this great game. For 22 of his 24 years as a hockey and sports reporter, Murphy covered the Bruins on a daily basis, including their victorious 2011 Stanley Cup run and their runs to the 2013 and 2019 Finals. Murphy is currently a co-host, along with Pierre McGuire, on The Eye Test Podcast.
