Kirill Kaprizov’s record-shattering season leaves no doubt he’s the Wild’s first superstar

It’s safe to say Kirill Kaprizov is getting much more comfortable with the media.

On Monday, when Kaprizov held his end-of-season presser before heading to the airport to return to Russia for the first time since September, reporters were excited to see his virtual translator for the first time in person and not on a Zoom or the other end of media relations guru Aaron Sickman’s cell phone.

As reporters made small talk with Ilya Kravtchouk, a Twin Cities-based 3M employee and the son of former NHL defenseman Igor Kravchuk, about his newborn and life in general, Kaprizov finally butted in and asked in English, “Do you guys want to talk to him or me?”

The Wild star, often showing off his bubbly personality during interviews, laughed out loud.

So did reporters, who often get fun shots from players but for the first time were on the receiving end of one from Kaprizov.

Kirill Kaprizov and translator Ilya. He’s heading home later today: “This year was so much better than last year. My English is a little better. My parents can come. I can talk to people at restaurants a little.” pic.twitter.com/tZjQv0gvAC

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) May 16, 2022

What a sophomore season for Kaprizov, who rewrote the Wild record book and lived up to every cent of the first year of his five-year, $45 million contract — the richest such deal in NHL history for a player with so little service time.

Remember, Kaprizov earned that average of $9 million per year after only 55 NHL games. Granted, he lapped the competition for the Calder Trophy by falling one vote short of a unanimous run of first-place votes, but Kaprizov’s 27 goals and 51 points in 2020-21 came during a shortened season against only seven opponents in front of mostly empty arenas.

That meant nobody, not even general manager Bill Guerin, was completely confident the Wild didn’t make a colossal mistake by so quickly awarding Kaprizov with a contract fit for a true superstar.

Even Guerin was a wee bit concerned when Kaprizov didn’t score a goal in his first eight games in 2021-22. But perhaps his slow start came from doing nothing for two weeks in September as he quarantined in Florida and arrived in the Twin Cities on the eve of training camp. Coach Dean Evason skated up to Kaprizov on the first day of camp and told him he looked a little “chunky.”

But once Kaprizov hit his stride, he was like nobody Wild fans have ever seen slip on their favorite team’s sweater.

He finished with 47 goals, 61 assists and 108 points, all franchise records. And he provided star power, a clutchness, a desire to win and somebody to give hope in the future for an organization starved for a true Stanley Cup run.

He even appeared in a national Great Clips commercial, which is very un-Wild-like, that was shot before the Winter Classic.

“Overall, I think the season was great. … It started slow and some people hated me in the beginning,” Kaprizov said through his translator.

When Kravtchouk said the word “hated” in English, Kaprizov burst out laughing.

“As it went on, I think my play got better, the team’s play got better,” Kaprizov continued. “We were able to turn things around and then if you even compare it to last season, I think it was a lot more stable and steady this year as opposed to last year. So, overall, I’m happy.”

When Kaprizov was asked if he really felt some fans “hated” him, he answered in English, “I think couple games, first couple games, no? I (couldn’t) score.”

When reminded he still had six assists in those first eight goalless games, Kaprizov said in English, “People want to see me score goals.”

Winning games helps too, and Kaprizov has a track record for that.

He scored the overtime goal in the gold-medal game in the 2018 Winter Olympics, won a KHL championship in 2019 and was perhaps on his way to a second in a row when the pandemic interrupted CSKA Moscow’s 2019-20 season.

Like everybody, Kaprizov had high hopes for the Wild being a true Cup contender this season after a franchise-record 53 wins and 113 points and finishing as the fifth-best regular season team in the NHL. Instead, the Wild bowed out in six games to the Blues, their seventh consecutive playoff series defeat.

It was at no fault of Kaprizov, whose seven goals were a Wild record for a single playoff round.

Kirill Kaprizov franchise records set in 2021-22

“He’s a superstar,” Guerin said. “I don’t know what his ceiling is, but it is high. And the thing that I love most about Kirill … well, there’s a lot of things … but he’s so humble. He just wants to be a hockey player. He doesn’t care about any of the other B.S. around the game, or this or that. And he tried putting this team on his back. We saw it in Game 5. That’s when I saw it the most. He literally tried to put this team on his back and carry them — just say, ‘You know what guys, I got you. Follow me.’ And he’s become a big-time leader on our team. Yeah, it’s a luxury. He’s special.”

Still, Kaprizov said, “Very disappointing obviously the way the season ended. Still don’t really believe that it’s over. Ultimately, we wanted more and we wanted to achieve more. It’s just really disappointing.

“If you take away the playoffs, just looking at the season, obviously it was great for myself and for a lot of the players, we had a good season. But obviously, from playoffs, I think we obviously need to improve. Each player can learn from their mistakes. We’ll definitely gain experience from this, but obviously we want to do better.”

Kaprizov said overall this season was much easier than his first in the NHL.

First, his parents were able to come over for a couple of games on the East Coast, one in Minnesota and the All-Star Game in Las Vegas. He also was excited that his English is so vastly improved that he can converse with Wild fans or others he meets out on the town.

“I got to understand the language a little bit better, just how things function and just got set into my own,” he said. “It was definitely a lot more comfortable … I love the fans. They’ve been great. Going around town, I definitely get noticed a little bit more and I get stopped. But I embrace it, right? They’re the reasons I’m here. Just the other day, we were at a team event at a restaurant and we had a bunch of people come over. Someone who spoke Russian came over to me and we had a chat and got a chance to talk.”

Now Kaprizov’s back in Russia getting to see his parents and his brother, Anton, whom he calls in English, “my best friend.” He’ll relax for a few weeks by going fishing, renting some boats on a lake and doing a lot of the outdoorsy things he loves to do, then will get back on the gym and on the ice with his trainer and coach to prep for the 2022-23 campaign.

In English, Kaprizov said he’s “really excited to go to the sauna. That’s one of the first things I want to do is go there. Russian sauna, real sauna. Not Finnish sauna. But after that, I live a simple life. Stay at home with friends and family, play some soccer, maybe do a little bit of traveling throughout Russia. Nothing too much.”

(Photo: David Berding / Getty Images)