One of the Wild's top prospects has been traded to HC Sochi from SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL. New alternate captain Kirill Kaprizov standing next to captain Jared Spurgeon. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxMzc4NzI4MzM5NTgwNzYw/usatsi_21523300.jpg] New alternate captain Kirill Kaprizov standing next to captain Jared Spurgeon. ST. PAUL - Just two days away from the Wild's first game of the 2023-24 season, it has been announced that Kirill Kaprizov will serve as the new alternate alongside Marcus Foligno. Kaprizov, 26, is entering year three of his five-year $45M deal, and his fourth year in the NHL. He will now do so with a letter on his jersey. Kaprizov has played 203 career games for the Wild where he has notched 114 goals and 234 points and is climbing up the Wild's franchise leaderboard very quickly. The 5-foot-10 forward has already broken the Wild's single season goals, assists, points and power-play goals records and is tied with Ryan Hartman for the franchise single season record in even-strength goals. Arguably a top five winger in the NHL, Kaprizov is only 113 goals off of the Wild's single season goal record and became the fastest Wild player to score 100 goals in franchise history. By the time Kaprizov's contract is up he would likely have broken the record for most goals in Wild history. Kaprizov leads by example and works his tail off day in and day out. There is never a night where Kaprizov isn't playing his hardest. A good example of this came after he played in his first preseason game this year. Kaprizov scored 30 seconds into the game and eventually scored an empty net goal later but told the media he wasn't happy with how he played individually. Throughout camp, a lot of the talk has been how Kaprizov has come into this year more hungry to go far in the playoffs and that energy and tenacity he has brought to the ice so far is rubbing off on everyone. A captain is more than just a good player with a letter on his chest. A captain is someone who defines what it takes to be a member of the Minnesota Wild. It's a representation of the team, the attitude and the determination that it takes to win. Which is exactly why Kaprizov will wear an "A" above the Wild logo. Required Reading • Wild announce opening night roster [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/news/wild-announce-opening-night-roster] • Wild top prospect, Marat Khusnutdinov, traded to HC Sochi [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/news/report-wild-top-prospect-marat-khusnutdinov-sent-to-hc-sochi] • Jared Spurgeon expected to miss a few weeks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/news/report-wild-captain-jared-spurgeon-expected-to-miss-a-few-weeks] • Wild extend Ryan Hartman [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/news/wild-sign-ryan-hartman-to-three-year-extension], Marcus Foligno [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/news/wild-sign-marcus-foligno-to-a-four-year-extension], and Mats Zuccarello [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/news/wild-sign-mats-zuccarello-to-two-year-contract-extension]
