Potential for Kirill Kaprizov leaving "doesn't bother me at all": Wild GM

In a recent interview published by Michael Russo in The Athletic, Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin said he is not fazed at the possibility of losing Calder Trophy winner Kirill Kaprizov to the KHL's CSKA Moscow if the two sides can not agree on a long-term contract.

"It's not my decision. It doesn't bother me at all," he said.

Kaprizov scored 27 goals and 51 points last year in an impressive rookie campaign.

In terms of the contract negotiation itself, things appear to be heading in the right direction.

"I think things are going well enough," Guerin told Russo. "We still have lots of time, there's no rush or panic. I'm in constant communication with Kirill's agent. We continue to move forward."

Earlier in the piece, in which Russo takes a look at why the Wild couldn't work out a long-term deal with Kevin Fiala -- the team's leading scorer over the past two seasons -- in addition to updating the Kaprizov situation, Guerin stated that he believes it's vital for a player to make it to training camp. With the timeline closing in on a deal with Kaprizov, this is something to keep in mind.

"I can tell you that from experience. Training camp's not always the funnest part of the year," Guerin said, expressing a bit of relief that Fiala will be in the room when it begins. "But it is important, and if you're not there, you are behind the eight-ball. And it's very tough to play catch-up."

That tells us that in Guerin's ideal world, Kaprizov would have penned a deal before next month's camp begins.

The Wild have a projected cap space of $13.11 million, according to CapFriendly. According to Russo, Guerin is not interested in bringing in any unsigned free agents to camp on a professional tryout unless he is confident they will make the team.

The Wild have reportedly tabled seven-to-eight year offers to Kaprizov in the $9 million range.