Reports Emerging That Kirill Kaprizov Could Be Traded Out of Minnesota: Will Pittsburgh Be On His Trade List?

These rumors stem from a report a few days ago from The Daily Faceoff that shared the news that Kaprizov has rejected a contract offer from the Wild which would have made him the highest paid player in the NHL.

While it appears as though the Wild have warmed up to the idea of trading Kaprizov, that endeavour will be made much more difficult by the fact that Kaprizov's current deal includes a full no-movement clause. Due to this, Kaprizov has full control over where he gets traded to, if at all.

The more teams Kaprizov is open to being traded to, the better it is for Minnesota, as their leverage goes up in trade negotiations. However, it's unknown at this time is Kaprizov has a preference, if any, as to where he lands.

While the Pittsburgh Penguins have had a rough go of it these past few years, they may be primed to make a huge splash and acquire Kaprizov from Minnesota.

As things currently stand, Pittsburgh is projected to have $53.2 million in cap space next season.

We know thanks to a report from earlier today that Kaprizov could be seeking up to $20 million a year on his next contract. With Pittsburgh already having large amounts of free cap space at their disposal, and the salary cap projected to go up significantly over the next decade, the Penguins are one of the few teams in the NHL who could pay Kaprizov essentially whatever he wants.

While Dubas has been reluctant to make a huge splash since acquiring Erik Karlsson from San Jose, this could be just the move Pittsburgh needs to give their aging core a legitimate shot at another Stanley Cup run.