Among the top priorities in the Minnesota Wild's offseason, is securing a contract extension for Kirill Kaprizov, the left wing who has one year left on his deal, and is the club's franchise forward and holder of 386 points in 319 regular-season games.

Selected by Minnesota in the fifth round (No. 135) in the 2015 NHL Draft, Kaprizov has led the Wild in points in four of his five NHL seasons and won the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 2020-21. He has 386 points (15th in the NHL), and 185 goals (ninth) in 319 games since entering the League.

Since he was hired as general manager, Bill Guerin has wanted to build the Wild into a championship team. Almost six years on the job, Guerin finally has his best chance to do that. “This is the first time we’ve had real flexibility in a long,