Kirill Kaprizov ready to leave Minnesota to play for original six franchise

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Julien Trekker
September 25, 2024 (1:08 PM)

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The Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov is apparently ready to leave his team to play for an Original Six franchise.

A lot of players take pride in playing for Original Six teams. They're the most storied teams in the league, and they never struggle to attract good players. However, one of these teams has a better argument than the others to attract players: the Chicago Blackhawks.

In 2023, everything changed for the franchise with the selection of Connor Bedard at the draft. By adding a generational talent to the team, many players are expected to be interested in joining the Hawks, as we saw this summer with the acquisition of top free agent Teuvo Teravainen, as well as Tyler Bertuzzi and Alec Martinez, among others.

According to a new report from Joe Smith of The Athletic, Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov already has his eyes set on the Blackhawks for the next chapter of his career.

Smith revealed that the rumor started at the last NHL draft in Las Vegas. Apparently, Kaprizov wants to sign in Chicago when his $9M AAV contract ends in Minnesota, after the 2025-26 season.

The Bedard-Kaprizov duo would be devastating. It's easy to draw resemblances to the Edmonton Oilers' leaders Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time last year.

We can't imagine a scenario in which Kaprizov joins Bedard in Chicago and the team doesn't win a Stanley Cup in the coming years. It'll be general manager Kyle Davidson's job to bring the team to the next level. But it has already started, as they drafted many promising players expected to play in the NHL in a few years, such as Artyom Levshunov, Frank Nazar, and Oliver Moore.