LW/RW Kirill Kaprizov - CSKA Moscow, KHL (2015, 135th, MIN)

[DANOZ28]

this is a message board and you can believe whatever you choose to believe. russo is as reputable of a reporter as there is & wild management would look pretty silly if they were caught lying so i doubt that happened. enjoy your life !

 

[Kshahdoo]

this is a message board and you can believe whatever you choose to believe. russo is as reputable of a reporter as there is & wild management would look pretty silly if they were caught lying so i doubt that happened. enjoy your life !

They did nothing comparing to the other NHL team (Toronto) and didn't wanna admit it. Don't tell me this doesn't happen in American corporations, because it'll be a lie.

 

[Caser]

this is a message board and you can believe whatever you choose to believe. russo is as reputable of a reporter as there is & wild management would look pretty silly if they were caught lying so i doubt that happened. enjoy your life !

Believing is more of a religious approach, but I'd suggest to apply some more-or-less scientific approach. For example, what do we have:

1. Fletcher told that the communication to Kaprizov was blocked. - I trust his words, since he has direct access to the situation. Still I want to note that he didn't specify if anyone tried to contact Kaprizov in Russia or not, iirc, he only talked about NA agents and the WJC. Also I want to note that, as far as I know, Fletcher himself didn't talk about any political stuff at all.

2. A claim by Kaprizov that Wild management didn't contact him recently. - also I think it is trustable, as Kaprizov has direct access to the situation. Also, it actually doesn't contradict to Fletcher's words at all.

3. A claim by Russo that there is some political stuff (in a bad way) involved. - Russo has only indirect access to the situation, so I'd prefer to apply additional checks to this hypothesis:

• If this is the reason, then probably there would be some similar stuff going on with another Russian based players, but do we see any other possible examples? I don't.
• Possibly Kaprizov's freedom is being affected in some way? I don't have any direct knowledge, but he has been chatting to fans and journalists, also his game doesn't indicate that he would be stressed in some way.
• Finally, has Russo been noticed in making some strange statements? In my opinion yes, as I can remember the "Sokolov has been punished by Hockey Russia" narrative (I hope I don't have to explain why it is absurd) from the same podcast.

That makes me think that I should trust Kaprizov and Fletcher and not Russo (or at least apply a good grain of salt here). And if I stick to that and throw away Russo's words as doubtful, then I see a classical case of miscommunication, which is understandable, as, as far as I can remember, Wild management didn't have any experience with KHL prospects before.

 

[Fantomas]

3. A claim by Russo that there is some political stuff (in a bad way) involved. - Russo has only indirect access to the situation, so I'd prefer to apply additional checks to this hypothesis:

• If this is the reason, then probably there would be some similar stuff going on with another Russian based players, but do we see any other possible examples? I don't.
• Possibly Kaprizov's freedom is being affected in some way? I don't have any direct knowledge, but he has been chatting to fans and journalists, also his game doesn't indicate that he would be stressed in some way.
• Finally, has Russo been noticed in making some strange statements? In my opinion yes, as I can remember the "Sokolov has been punished by Hockey Russia" narrative (I hope I don't have to explain why it is absurd) from the same podcast.

This. Specifically the idea that Kaprizov was in some way coerced into signing his extension by bad mafia people.

 

[ThatGuy22]

The Toronto stuff is kind of apples and oranges to me. They were recruiting undrafted UFA's, that any team to could talk to, so it makes sense to do more of a full court press.

I'd suspect almost every GM would follow a similar pattern with regards how they contact players that they have their rights, and they'd try to make contact through their registered agents/advisers.

Fletcher has also basically always let Europeans develop at home and decide when they were ready to come over themselves. Granlund/Brodin/JEE all probably could have been in the NHL/AHL the year prior if Fletcher wanted to pressure them. But that's not really his style. Maybe in this case it would have been better if it was.

 

[Al Lagoon]

Well, is there any shame in a person wanting to stay home, be a rock star in their own country? Not a bad gig.

If he doesn't care about the NHL, no big loss for the Wild, 5th round pick. I won't lose any sleep over this.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Well, is there any shame in a person wanting to stay home, be a rock star in their own country? Not a bad gig.

If he doesn't care about the NHL, no big loss for the Wild, 5th round pick. I won't lose any sleep over this.

Sort of a big loss, if you're confident (as I am) that he'd be a really good NHL player. Just didn't cost much.

 

[Atas2000]

Sort of a big loss, if you're confident (as I am) that he'd be a really good NHL player. Just didn't cost much.

If the Wild see it just like you they should put some real effort into bringing him over. It is as simple as that.

 

[57special]

Well, is there any shame in a person wanting to stay home, be a rock star in their own country? Not a bad gig.

If he doesn't care about the NHL, no big loss for the Wild, 5th round pick. I won't lose any sleep over this.

It goes without saying that if he doesn't want to play NHL then it doesn't matter. What some Russian posters seem to be implying is that he wants to be courted a bit. If that is the case, then ya, Fletcher has to make it happen, either by himself or by hiring some Russian based personnel who can advise him on how best to get it done.

Time for the GM to get off his ass, and quit making excuses.

To dismiss him as a 5th round pick is kind of bizarre. Are you suggesting that we should spend our time going after Yakupov, because he was 1OA?

 

[Al Lagoon]

It goes without saying that if he doesn't want to play NHL then it doesn't matter. What some Russian posters seem to be implying is that he wants to be courted a bit. If that is the case, then ya, Fletcher has to make it happen, either by himself or by hiring some Russian based personnel who can advise him on how best to get it done.

Time for the GM to get off his ass, and quit making excuses.

To dismiss him as a 5th round pick is kind of bizarre. Are you suggesting that we should spend our time going after Yakupov, because he was 1OA?

Nope. I'm saying the Wild invested a lower-middle round pick which at the time was of no great value. Not a high expected rate of return there. Marcin Kolusz didn't pan out, and neither did Jean-Claude Sawyer. I don't lose any sleep over them either.

If he decides to come to NA, we're golden: if not, so what?

 

[Tryamkin]

On a topic change:

This would be frustrating considering Kaprizov would be one of the best players at the olympics.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Nope. I'm saying the Wild invested a lower-middle round pick which at the time was of no great value. Not a high expected rate of return there. Marcin Kolusz didn't pan out, and neither did Jean-Claude Sawyer. I don't lose any sleep over them either.

If he decides to come to NA, we're golden: if not, so what?

"So what" is the idea that there could be a piece of of puzzle out there that could help us, but isn't.

You're walking down the street and see a million dollars laying there. As you approach the bag of cash, you stumble and accidently kick it into the sewer. So what? You're not out any money that you didn't have before. But having that million bucks would've been really, really freaking nice.

 

[Caser]

Scored for Russia NT:

 

[Caser]

 

[Critical13]

Still a top 5 prospect? I haven't had a chance to watch him a single time this season.

 

[Fantomas]

This is just Eronko speculating, but an interesting thought.

 

[JetsFan815]

This is just Eronko speculating, but an interesting thought.

Yes, Fletcher is just sitting on his ass and clearly going out of his way to NOT add a top6 player to his roster. Do these guys believe what they tweet?

 

[Killerjas]

Still a top 5 prospect? I haven't had a chance to watch him a single time this season.

What is a top 5 prospect?

 

[Fantomas]

Yes, Fletcher is just sitting on his ass and clearly going out of his way to NOT add a top6 player to his roster. Do these guys believe what they tweet?

Easy to pick on Fletcher right now, but the idea that Kaprizov could be lured while on a contract is interesting if true. I don't know if it's true.

They'd have to negotiate a buyout, I'm guessing. It's all about the money.

 

[LaMascarade]

Not going to WJC ? Too old?

 

[whitstifier]

Weird situation... Hope to see him in the NHL soon

 

[57special]

There is a buyout for the last year of his contract(2019-20), AFAIK. That's it. And the Wild can not "help" with the buyout, according to NHL rules. Kaprizov has to raise the money himself.
I'm sure that both sides could've done better here, but Fletcher is a good GM(let's not talk about the BUF trade this summer)who learned the trade at his Dad's knee. That's a lot of hockey knowledge.

The recent signing of Ivan Lodnia( Russian via Ukraine/CA), is thought to be a reaching out to Kaprizov, as Lodnia's agent is likely to be Kaprizov's NA agent in the near future.

It could all work out well. In two or three years time, Lodnia, Sokolov, Svetlakov, and Kaprizov could all be at the Wild training camp competing for a job.

 

[Atas2000]

Not going to WJC ? Too old?

Uhhhhhm.... yes. This coming WJC is for 1998 borns and younger.

 

[Atas2000]

competing for a job.

Why would Kaprizov need that?

 

[57special]

Because it's the best league in the world, and jobs are earned, not handed out. If KK thinks he will bump a Granlund, Nino, or Coyle off a line because of what he has done in the KHL then he might as well stay at home.

Can't believe that this has to be explained.