The NHL has been discussing raising the salary cap for quite some time, but now they’ve made it official that it will be happening. In 2025-26, it will increase to $95.5 million from the current $88 million, and it’s expected to continue increasing. In 2026-27, it will increase to $104 million; finally, in 2027-28, it will increase to $113.5 million.
This news couldn’t come at a better time, as the Minnesota Wild will be free of the biggest chunk of their recent cap issues with the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The past four years whenever the Wild’s cap space has come up, the buyouts have been mentioned. While it was necessary for the Wild to move their roster forward, it didn’t come without its issues. However, they knew they were only stuck for a little longer, and then the amounts dropped significantly, but with this recent news, they have more to be excited about, starting with Kirill Kaprizov’s next contract.
Kaprizov Needs to be Signed
It’s not a matter of if the Wild will pay Kaprizov but how much and they’re hoping to have it sometime this coming offseason. Even with his injury issues, the Wild know they can’t let him walk away, and they want to continue to build their team around him. Now, with this extra cash, they’ll be able to sign him and at least one other player, if not more depending on what way they go.
The Wild’s general manager Bill Guerin and team owner Craig Leipold have made it clear over the past few seasons that their main focus is proving to Kaprizov they’re a team that can win and that it’s worth signing in Minnesota long-term. However, to convince him of that, they need to have the money to sign players of his similar caliber, and with this increase, they will.
Kaprizov is currently on a $9 million salary per season that will end after the 2025-26 season, but of course, that’s expected to go up with his next contract. It’s hard to say exactly how much the Wild will offer Kaprizov, but he’ll once again make franchise history as the highest-paid Wild player for the second consecutive time. Early in the season, Michael Russo of The Athletic had proposed a number of $12-13 million per year for Kaprizov, but now, with the recent news of the salary increase, that has gone up a bit (from ‘Wild owner Craig Leipold on extending Kirill Kaprizov: ‘Nobody will offer more money than us, or longer’,’ The Athletic, 10/01/2024).
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