Guerin admits 'obstacles' holding up Kaprizov talks

Two months after denying that his negotiations with Kirill Kaprizov had reached an impasse, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin acknowledged they aren't going as planned.

"There are going to be some obstacles," Guerin told The Athletic's Michael Russo on Monday.

"I will say this, we are at a point where we feel we're being extremely fair," Guerin added. "How far apart are we? Not very, but sometimes those can be the things that take a while. I mean, that's the way I see it. You could ask (Kaprizov's agent) Paul (Theofanous) or Kirill and they might say something very different."

The GM wouldn't go into detail about the talks, but Russo reports the Wild have offered the 24-year-old winger deals of varying lengths at an average annual value of about $9 million.

"We've made a very fair offer, and that's just where we are," Guerin said.

In early July, Guerin insisted negotiations were ongoing. Later that month, it was reported Kaprizov had an offer to sign with one of his former squads, the KHL's CSKA Moscow, but he eventually ruled that out.

Kaprizov won the Calder Trophy in June after leading all NHL rookies with 27 goals and 51 points over 55 games. He also led the Wild in those offensive categories while pacing the club's forwards in average ice time at 18:18. Additionally, he posted a favorable 50.34 expected goals for percentage at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick.

The dynamic Russian carries the league's 10.2(c) designation rather than being a free agent of the unrestricted or restricted variety, according to CapFriendly. That's because he doesn't meet the requirements to be a UFA or a Group 2 RFA and Minnesota issued him a qualifying offer.

Kaprizov signed a two-year, entry-level deal with the Wild before the 2019-20 season. The club drafted him in 2015, but he didn't come over to North America to make his NHL debut until this past January.