Hockey

Kirill Kaprizov: the Wild would ask the Canadiens for Ivan Demidov in a possible trade
Félix Forget
Kirill Kaprizov: the Wild would ask the Canadiens for Ivan Demidov in a possible trade
Credit: Getty Images

The Minnesota Wild are currently in a, shall we say, delicate situation. Kirill Kaprizov, the city's star player, has turned down an eight-year, $128-million deal… and all of this makes us wonder about his future.Remember that Kaprizov will become a free agent on July 1, andthe Wild obviously want to keep him, but above all they don't want to lose him for nothing.Obviously, the Wild want to keep him, but they also don't want to lose him for nothing,so the idea of trading him is gaining ground. And on The Shaun Starr Show, Shaun Starr and Marco D'Amico wondered what it would cost the Habs if they wanted to stick their noses into the matter. D'Amico recalls that the chances are extremely slim… and when he started talking about what it would cost, he named a name: Ivan Demidov.

Because that's the player the Wild would be targeting to send Kaprizov to Montreal. https://youtu.be/ZqYrcvhLH0s?si=o-fsjc5siPvejmK4&t=351

There's reason to believe that the Habs would turn down Demidov pretty quickly (he's probably, after Nick Suzuki, the most untouchable player in town). So, the most competitive offer the Habs could make would start with Cole Caufield or Juraj Slafkovský.And clearly, the club is going to have to add something extra: simply giving away one of those two players clearly won't be enough. And considering that Kaprizov will want $16-17 million a year on his next contract, that's starting to look like a lot of money.For the time being, though, the Wild don't want to rush things. According to Pierre LeBrun, who provided an update on the file during the Insider Trading segment, the Wild aren't ready to talk to other teams about a deal involving Kaprizov.And the offer of $128 million over eight years is still on the table.

But in reality, the Wild can't be patient forever. If negotiations continue to stall, the club will eventually have to ask itself if it's really ready to lose the Russian superstar on the free-agent market.That said, seeing him land in Montreal seems pretty unlikely.Spacer title='Overtime']–Lane Hutson could hit that wall too.– Habs prospect Bogdan Konyushkov is dreaming of his first NHL game. [Research Ground] – Interesting

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