Whether it is fair or not, this is what comes with being the highest-paid player in the NHL.
Kirill Kaprizov signed an eight-year, $136 million extension with the Minnesota Wild before the year started. The deal, which runs through the 2033-34 season, features an average annual value (AAV) of $17 million, which sets a new record for yearly cap hit.
His eight-year deal offically begins next season. With Kaprizov about to earn what he is set to earn, this certinally changes the conversation.
It changes the expectations. And after the Wild's season-ending collapse against the Colorado Avalanche, it changes the scrutiny.
In the final two games of the series and the season for the Wild, Kaprizov recorded one shot.
One shot.
In the final 138 minutes of real game time, Kaprizov had one shot. For most players, that stat would be concerning. For a superstar expected to drive a franchise toward Stanley Cup contention, it becomes almost impossible to ignore.
Nathan MacKinnon who tied and ended the Wild's season, faces scrutiny. Connor McDavid faces it. Auston Matthews has faced it for years, so has Mitch Marner. The NHL's elite are judged by what they do in elimination games and defining playoff moments.
Kaprizov now enters that category of expectation.
The frusterating part for Minnesota is that the flashes are there. Kaprizov took over Game 3 and looked capable of changing the series on his own. After that, Colorado might have tightened the space and the Wild never found an answer. Kaprizov was missing.
‘You Guys Give Me S—‘: Kirill Kaprizov Responds To Criticism With Dominant Playoff Performance
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Meanwhile, after deserved criticism in Game 4, Matt Boldy responded with two assists in Game 5 and helped the Wild create an early 3-0 lead.
The Wild needed a similar push from Kaprizov following one shot in Game 4. He responded by recording zero. As the Wild's game slipped away in Game 5, waiting for Kaprizov to take over like he is paid to do, he did not show up.
Instead, the Wild managed fewer than ten shots on goal over the final 40 minutes and overtime after taking a 3-0 first-intermission lead to a historic collapse that ended the season and raised some difficult questions heading into an era now fully built around Kaprizov.
If the Wild are series about becoming a Stanley Cup contender, their best player and the record-setting highest paid player in the entire league, has to look like one when the series is on the line. Against Colorado, that simply did not happen.
That is the reality of superstardom in the NHL. The higher the contract, the higher the expectations.
After the Wild's season ended in historic collapse fashion, Minnesota's franchise player is no longer immune from the scrutiny that comes with both.
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