NHL Rumors: Wild disappointed Kaprizov still unsigned; and Tarasenko arrives to Blues camp in great shape
Anthony Scultore
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Kirill Kaprizov led all rookies in goals with 27, points (51) and power-play goals (eight) in 55 games this past season. His totals in goals, assists (24) and points served as records by a rookie in franchise history en route to the Calder Trophy.
As an RFA without arbitration rights, Kaprizov has almost no negotiation leverage. Which leaves him with just one option, holding out. The big question is, will he?
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NHL Rumors: Wild disappointed Kaprizov has yet to sign
Minnesota’s GM, Bill Guerin is still working on getting a deal done. Michael Russo of The Athletic connected with him over the weekend to get an update.
“I’m disappointed that we don’t have him signed, but we are not the only team in this situation,” Guerin said. “Training camp starts next week. And when that starts, we’re gonna focus on the guys we have there. This happens all the time, but we’ll just move ahead.”
The two sides have been working on a new deal since April. At the time, Kaprizov rejected an 8 year-deal. The reigning rookie of the year wanted only a short term deal, but it sounded like both sides were good with something along the lines of 5 years. So what is the hold up? Is it money? There was some talk that the AAV was going to be close to $9M AAV but it has yet to be completed.
Guerin also spoke of obstacles, and it could be the money and structure of the deal. They could possibly work this out in time, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Tarasenko comes into camp in “great shape”
Over the weekend, Blues GM Doug Armstrong talked about Vladimir Tarasenko coming to camp and being ready to play. He also said that he hoped that Tarasenko might change his mind and want to stay too.
“I guess my (hope) is that he’ll be playing so good that he won’t want to be traded,” Armstrong said with a laugh. “And we won’t want to trade him.”
St. Louis Dispatch
The 29 year-old is one of the game’s better offensive players. He scored a career high 40 goals back in 2015-16 and has 442 points in his nine seasons. He also comes with a lot of risk due to his shoulder issues. That history is something teams will not take lightly, but goal starved teams will most certainly be giving the Blues a call.
Today, Andy Strickland is reporting that Tarasenko has arrived to camp in great shape and drawing rave reviews.
Ultimately, it is in his own best interest to play and show the rest of the NHL his shoulder is fine.
