Wild sign Kirill Kaprizov to NHL-record $136M extension - ESPN

The Minnesota Wild have signed left wing Kirill Kaprizov to an NHL-record eight-year, $136 million contract extension through the 2033-34 season, general manager Bill Guerin announced Tuesday.

The deal is the highest in NHL history in terms of total money and average annual value ($17 million), breaking the marks previously held by Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin ($124 million) and Edmonton Oilers standout Leon Draisaitl ($14 million AAV).

The contract, which will kick in next season, includes large signing bonuses over the first four years, sources told ESPN. He will play this season on the final year of a five-year, $45 million deal signed in 2021.

Kirill Kaprizov's $136 million extension with the Minnesota Wild is the richest contract in terms of both total money and average annual value.

Ovechkin's deal was a 13-year pact signed in 2008, when the NHL had different term limits.

The news comes one week before the NHL season started after prolonged extension talks between Kaprizov's camp and the Wild, in which Kaprizov turned down a deal that would pay him $16 million annually.

The NHL and NHLPA have already announced significant jumps in the salary cap for the next three seasons after COVID slowed down growth for several years.

The 28-year-old Kaprizov had 25 goals and 31 assists and a plus-19 rating in 41 games during the 2024-25 regular season. In 319 games over five seasons with the Wild, he is fourth in team history with 185 goals and fifth with 386 points.

Kaprizov, a 2015 fifth-round pick, is already one of the best players to ever suit up for the Wild. The winger holds single-season franchise records in points (108), goals (47), power play goals (19) and is the only player in franchise history with