Why worry? Kirill Kaprizov is in the prime of his career, and the Wild have him

In the age of Apple, Alexa and Amazon, patience is outdated.

There’s no need to wait when it’s so much quicker to mobile order, to ask a question aloud or to binge a show without commercials.

This sense of urgency even extends to the Wild, where there’s a budding fascination about superstar Kirill Kaprizov’s future.

Will he re-sign after the season?

Where will he play in two years?

What does his next contract look like?

But whether the focus is on the trees or the forest doesn’t change his status with the Wild.

Kaprizov is a shrewd scorer who could realistically hit 50 goals. He’s passionate about his craft, understanding when and how best to exploit the opposition with his skating and shot. And he has an appreciation for what it takes to win, drawing on the experience he brought with him to Minnesota from his upbringing in Russia.

Kaprizov is in the prime of his career, and the Wild have him right now.

“When you enjoy process and you have more fun in practice and the games,” Kaprizov said, “it’s easy to play hockey.”

Once the puck drops on Thursday night against Columbus at Xcel Energy Center, Kaprizov will kick off his fifth season with the Wild.

To say he hasn’t lived up to the hype is simply untrue, and the buzz was big. After all, the winger went from getting drafted by the Wild with a fifth-round pick in 2015 to scoring a golden goal at the Olympics and becoming a KHL champion.

He arrived as advertised: His first goal came in overtime of his first Wild game on Jan.14, 2021, at Los Angeles.

“It was lucky a little bit,” Kaprizov said before laughing as he watched the sequence on YouTube. “I don’t want to score from my skates.”

On a breakaway, the puck bounced off Kaprizov’s skate mid-deke and flew into the net.

“First couple shifts, yeah of course,” he said about whether he was nervous. “But in the game after, I feel good.”

That comfort level was on display the rest of his rookie season.

He converted his second goal of a third-period hat trick (his first of five in the league) vs. Arizona by scooping up the puck in the left faceoff circle, veering around the net and swooping into the slot for a shot through traffic.

Kaprizov actually looked for a pass and acknowledged he could have handed off to captain Jared Spurgeon, who was pinching on the right side.

“Sometimes you’re feeling so good, you just want to show something more and more and more,” Kaprizov said. “It’s what happened here.”

The most jaw-dropping goal of the 27 Kaprizov had that shortened season to get crowned the NHL’s top rookie came back in Los Angeles when he pushed the puck between his legs to get around Mikey Anderson.

Kaprizov faked like he was going to the middle and because Anderson stopped, Kaprizov created a lane to the front of the net where he wired the puck through the goaltender.

“Look at his legs,” Kaprizov said while reviewing the play. “This is why I have more space.”

During his second season, Kaprizov kept finding room to operate and he set the franchise record for goals (47), assists (61) and points (108).

Highlighting his ascent was his unique chemistry with Mats Zuccarello.

Take the Nov. 10, 2021, game at Arizona when they debuted their behind-the-net give-and-go. After four passes back and forth, Kaprizov finally stuffed the puck inside the post on the power play.

The two never discussed this strategy beforehand, but Kaprizov communicated his intent by skating toward Zuccarello after releasing the first pass.

“He understands me, what I want to do,” Kaprizov said.

Zuccarello felt he clicked with Kaprizov instantly, and now he can read Kaprizov’s movements.

“I know as a shooter where he wants it,” Zuccarello said, “and he knows me as a passer where to go.”

The last player Kaprizov had this telepathic-like connection with was Linus Omark, a Swede, who teamed up with Kaprizov in the KHL.

“Of course we talked,” Omark said, “but more we see hockey the same way.”

Although Kaprizov didn’t speak much English — he and Omark would draw on the board

— they were in-sync on the ice, Omark the playmaker and Kaprizov the finisher.

“Hockey’s another language,” Omark said. “He wanted to score, and I wanted to feed him.”

Kaprizov does have a knack for getting to the net, like against New Jersey when he accepted a cross-ice pass in the neutral zone and turned his back toward Ryan Graves to pull away from the defender and drive to the middle for a chip shot.

By opening his hips to the boards, a tactic Kaprizov saw Vladimir Tarasenko use when Tarasenko broke into the NHL, he can accelerate against the push from Graves.

“He was too aggressive,” Kaprizov said. “If he just holds stick, nothing happens probably.”

The Wild racked up the most wins and points in franchise history during Kaprizov’s career year, but they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by St. Louis despite Kaprizov contributing a dizzying seven goals between Games 2-5.

“That was a missed opportunity as a team,” alternate captain Marcus Foligno said, “because we had our best player clicking on all cylinders.”

More what-ifs followed in 2022-23.

Kaprizov almost pulled off what would have been the highlight of his career when his between-the-legs shot against Tampa Bay on Jan.4, 2023, hit the post.

“This was so good,” said Kaprizov, who thought the puck was going in. “The fans, everyone, stand up.”

He tried the same move earlier in the season vs. Winnipeg, but his attempt clipped a defender’s stick before caroming off the goalie. Seconds later, Kaprizov buried the loose puck en route to a 40-goal campaign.

“Sometimes you can’t turn and shoot normal,” said Kaprizov, who deploys this trick not to be flashy but because it’s the most efficient shot from where he’s at. “It’s faster if you do like this.”

Impressive hand-eye coordination was also how Kaprizov tipped in a Spurgeon shot in Game 1 of the playoffs at Dallas — this after Kaprizov’s first instinct was to set a screen.

Asked if he was healthy in that game, Kaprizov chuckled.

He suffered a leg injury on an awkward check from the Jets’ Logan Stanley and missed a month before returning with two games left in the regular season. Kaprizov, who’s been frustrated by the timing of his injuries, didn’t score the rest of the playoffs, and the Wild were knocked out in six games.

“I hate to be not healthy,” Kaprizov said. “I try to stay positive and practicing how I can. But still feeling bad because you can’t play.”

The lowest Foligno saw Kaprizov was last season when the Wild were slumping early.

“We all stunk,” Foligno said, “but I don’t think he got off on the greatest start either.”

Kaprizov had two goals at the nine-game mark and just six through 20.

He’s been around a point-per-game pace through the first 10 games of every season, but Kaprizov’s starts have been a storyline since he didn’t record his first goal until the ninth game of 2021-22, which was the beginning of his five-year, $45 million contract.

“My second year, ‘Oh, he signed $9 million contract, he’s bad,’” Kaprizov said before laughing at the memory. “But first 10 games, everyone hate me.”

His breakout performance last season was Dec. 19 in Boston.

After pouncing on a loose puck in the third period, he connected on a one-timer in overtime.

“Good pass,” he said of Joel Eriksson Ek’s dish, which Kaprizov was always going to direct on net with a one-timer because “it’s so hard for the goalie” to stop.

One-timers and rebounds are what Kaprizov believes he capitalizes most on, and he delivered another one-timer in overtime two nights later against Montreal.

“I love it,” Kaprizov said about overtime; aside from being the franchise leader in overtime goals with eight, he’s tied for second in the NHL since 2021.

But his momentum stalled at the end of the month when Kaprizov was cross-checked in the back by Winnipeg’s Brenden Dillon and sidelined for two weeks.

“My injuries, they come from nothing,” he said.

During the second half, Kaprizov went on a tear to get within one goal of his career high, finishing 46-50-96.

The Wild, though, never copied Kaprizov’s turnaround and missed the playoffs for the first time on his watch, igniting the conversation about where Kaprizov’s career is going.

“All we have to do is prove to him that we want to win,” owner Craig Leipold said.

At 17 years old, Kaprizov debuted in Russia’s top league.

He didn’t produce much — “I just have eight points,” he said — but he improved the ensuing seasons. After he led the World Junior Championship in goals in 2017, Kaprizov rejoined the KHL in Ufa and that’s when he had an epiphany.

“My head changes a little bit,” he explained. “I need to show every game my best. Sometimes when you’re young, you [don’t] understand. You play one game good, and you’re like, ‘Oh, OK, I score goal. I did assist. I am good.’ And then next game, you’re not great or something.

“Then in Ufa, I started thinking, ‘You should be every game not up and down.’”

The following season, Kaprizov switched to CSKA Moscow and advanced to the championship series for two straight years, capturing a title during his second run.

“If you have more wins and you go in playoffs second, third round or final, you always think, ‘Oh, it’s close. It’s close. It’s close,’” Kaprizov said. “You don’t go in the ocean or somewhere after the season. You’re playing hockey, and you’re like, ‘Oh, we’re stronger now. We have chance all the time.’

“It’s what happened with me in CSKA: Every year final and next year you’re coming, guys in locker room are feeling this, you’re like, ‘OK, now we go again.’”

Kaprizov, 27, wants a Stanley Cup, “but you have to do it.”

When the Wild lose even though he played well, Kaprizov isn’t happy because he thinks he could have done more to help the team win. Records and rankings are nice, but his performance matters to him because he knows him being at the top of his game gives the Wild a better chance to succeed.

“I care how I do,” he said, “for sure, 100%.”

But the idea the Wild have to win for him, Kaprizov doesn’t like that.

“Same guy,” he said, “like other players on the team.”

Next July 1 the Wild can sign Kaprizov to a contract extension.

On July 1, 2026, he would be eligible to join any team in the league if he hasn’t re-signed with the Wild.

Already Leipold has said no team will offer Kaprizov as much money as the Wild.

The last time the Wild were headed for a crossroads of this magnitude was in 2009 with Marian Gaborik, who exited in free agency, so the Wild received nothing in return.

But what is Kaprizov thinking?

“I have two more years,” he said, “and I just want to play hockey. I don’t know. People can talk everything about me. I try [not to] watch this news and what people talk about me. I don’t want to think about this now.

“I just want to play my hockey season, another hockey season, and enjoy process.”

In Kaprizov the Wild have someone who remembers every goal he’s scored and can recite whether the Wild won or lost.

That doesn’t clarify the future, but this is who Kaprizov is and that matters in the meantime.

“I never score 50 goals,” Kaprizov said.

Maybe this season he will.

“Maybe,” he said, before correcting himself, “No. It’s not my goal. My goal is to win the games.”