Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov reportedly only wants to sign with one NHL team in free agency

During the last NHL draft, at the Las Vegas Sphere, the Chicago Blackhawks were the second team to walk up on the stage to announce their pick: Artyom Levshunov.

The standout defenseman was considered to be one of the best available players going into the 2024 draft and ended up being taken by the Chicago Blackhawks, before Beckett Sennecke (3rd overall, Anaheim Ducks), Cayden Lindstrom (4th overall, Columbus Blue Jackets), and Ivan Demidov (5th overall, Montreal Canadiens).

At the same draft, a massive rumor emerged concerning one of the NHL's superstars: Kirill Kaprizov. However, we only got the details of it now.

According to The Athletic's Joe Smith, rumors said Kaprizov was very interested in signing with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2026, after his $9,000,000 AAV contract with the Minnesota Wild expires.

Kaprizov could be a very interesting option to play alongside Connor Bedard on the Hawks' first line. Two players of immense talent together on the ice could be devastating for their opponents. Comparisons come naturally with the Oilers' dynamic duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. We saw in the past seasons how well that strategy can work.

We can understand why talented players want to go to Chicago. Playing with a generational talent isn't an opportunity that comes often. We saw it this summer: the Hawks made a lot of great acquisitions in free agency, such as Teuvo Teravainen, Tyler Bertuzzi, Alec Martinez, and T.J. Brodie.

In Minnesota, he'd be hard to replace, but the team could very well sign a top free agent with the cap space generated by his departure, especially after a disappointing season for the Wild, which saw the team miss the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Kaprizov. If things don't work out well in Minnesota, Kaprizov could be interested in changing teams.

The Blackhawks are on their way to becoming one of the best teams in the NHL, and more players are expected to be tempted to join them, just like we're seeing in Edmonton right now.