Five key factors for the Wild: It's time for a 50-goal season from Kirill Kaprizov
The superstar winger got his big payday, now it's time for him to reward the Wild for their investment.
The Wild will open their 25th season on Thursday night in St. Louis — it should be 26 but a lockout wiped out the 2004-05 season — and to celebrate they will be looking to get past the opening round of the playoffs for the first time since 2015.
Here are five things that coach John Hynes will need to have to happen, or must make happen, for his team to reach that goal:
50 FOR KIRILL
Not to apply pressure, but expectations for superstar left winger Kirill Kaprizov will be massive after he signed an eight-year, $136 million contract extension last month. The contract will carry an average annual value of $17 million when it begins in 2026-27.
Kaprizov was one of the leading candidates for the Hart Trophy as league MVP last season as the New Year approached. He was tied for second in the NHL in goals (23) and tied for fourth in scoring (50 points) — only seven points behind Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon — when he missed the first game out of the Christmas break because of a lower-body injury.
Kaprizov, 28, played only seven more regular-season games, returning for three games in late January before undergoing surgery to address what reportedly was a groin or hernia issue.
The Wild went from looking like a playoff lock to a team that barely edged out Calgary for a wild card spot. Kaprizov had two goals and two assists in four games after returning just before the end of the regular season. He then had five goals and nine points in the Wild’s first-round playoff loss.
Kaprizov has had three 40-goal seasons in five years with the Wild — his 47 goals in 2021-22 are his career high — but it’s time for a 50-goal season. That means he must stay healthy — something the Wild are clearly expecting after making the investment in him that they did.
IT’S ZEEV’S TIME
As much as Wild coach John Hynes wants to lean on his veterans, he will have little choice but to rely on some of the franchise’s young talent this season.
That begins with 19-year-old defenseman Zeev Buium, who is expected to be a leading candidate for the Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. Buium, the 12th selection in the 2024 draft by the Wild, will open the season playing with veteran Jared Spurgeon on the second defensive pairing.
Buium, who had 24 goals and 98 points in 83 games in two seasons at the University of Denver, will quarterback the Wild’s top power-play unit and provide the type of offensive spark that has been missing from the blueline. Buium had one assist in the Wild’s first four playoff games against Vegas last spring before being a healthy scratch.
If Buium is a healthy scratch this season, something will have gone very wrong.
TIME TO FIND OUT ON OHGREN
Winger Liam Ohgren, the 19th pick by the Wild in the 2022 draft, made the opening night roster but will open the season on the fourth line. Ohgren had a chance to win a spot on the second line — especially with veteran Mats Zuccarello sidelined by an injury to open the season — but had no points, a minus-4 rating and seven shots in five preseason games.
Hynes’ frustration with Ohgren’s lack of production might be understandable, but burying him on the fourth line isn’t the answer. It’s time to give the 21-year-old an extended chance to play in a top-nine role without the constant threat of being scratched or sent back to Iowa of the American Hockey League.
Ohgren had two goals and five points in 24 games last season with the Wild and 19 goals and 37 points in 41 games with Iowa. How much can another extended run in the AHL help him? Ohgren deserves the chance to have the stability of playing on the third line for an extended period without having to worry about a bad shift landing him in the press box.