Kaprizov’s Extension Shows Rangers Can’t Bank on a Superstar Saving Them

For quite a while now there’s been a ton of chatter about the upcoming 2026 free agent class. With some of the biggest stars in the game potentially up for grabs, the New York Rangers were without question going to be one of the teams looking to make a big splash on July 1, 2026. With names like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Kirill Kaprizov, Adrian Kempe, and Kyle Connor all entering this season in the final year of their respective contracts, the Rangers needed to be mindful of the possibility they could all be available next summer.

With Kaprizov’s name officially coming off that list after the announcement that he'd reached agreement on a huge 8 year, $136 million extension with the Minnesota Wild, it serves as an important reminder:

While the Rangers should absolutely be preparing for the possibility of a superstar talent becoming available in free agency, they simply cannot count on one of those player’s coming to save them. 

Ever since it was reported that Kaprizov turned down an eight-year contract with an AAV of $16 million, the rumor mill went into full swing. He almost immediately became linked to the Rangers, given his connections with fellow Russians Artemi Panarin, Igor Shesterkin, and now Vladislav Gavrikov.

The fun game to play is the hypothetical one in which the Rangers are indeed able to land these kinds of big fish free agents. The more realistic scenario is what we just saw yesterday with Kaprizov and that player staying put with their current team. 

Kaprizov is now the highest played player in the National Hockey League. He will remain with the Minnesota Wild for the next eight seasons at a stunning AAV of $17 million.

The specifics of that contract are a bit more intricate, as it is very front loaded with a large portion of the money being paid out in bonuses in the first four seasons. Michael Russo, who covers the Wild for The Athletic, gets into that more here:

Kaprizov signing that contract means a great deal of things for the National Hockey League. For starters, it’s a massive sign of what player contracts and negotiations will look like in this new rising salary cap world. The fact that he turned down an AAV of $16 million in itself is wild, no put intended. But the fact that he ended up getting even more money, which was evidently what he wanted, is even more telling in more ways than one. 

I’m sure this is going to be a very lukewarm take, but I would very much like Connor McDavid to leave Edmonton and play out his prime with the New York Rangers. I’m sure many of you reading this would likely agree and probably have similar sentiments for other top players around the league. This includes Jack Eichel and, of course, Kaprizov when he first turned down that contract extension and that dream was still alive. Problem is, those big name players have to actually get to free agency. And as Kaprizov just demonstrated, it may be a bit of a long shot for that to actually happen.