In 27-year-old Russian forward Kirill Kaprizov, the Minnesota Wild have the first legitimate superstar in the quarter-century that the franchise has been around. Even in the midst of their worst slump of the 2024-25 season — four straight losses after their first blanking at the hands of Winnipeg on Saturday — Kaprizov is fourth in the NHL in offense and second in goals with 22, two back of Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl. During their most recent win, a 4-1 triumph over Philadelphia on Dec. 14, Kaprizov scored the first goal by banking a shot from along the blue line off the side of the Flyers’ goalie’s mask. He also added the last goal, hitting an empty net with just over two minutes left to end any drama the Flyers might have had in mind. Kaprizov is leading the league in empty net goals, and several of them have come from beyond the blue line, or even from beyond center ice, as he has made clinchers a kind of specialty this season. Asked after the game about the star’s two vastly different ways of scoring — from an impossible angle with nothing of note to shoot at, and from long distance with an opportunity to win the game — Wild coach John Hynes said Kaprizov’s unmatched shooting prowess plays out every time the Wild are on the ice for practice at TRIA Rink. “That’s he’s doing that stuff like 30 minutes after practice, and we’re trying to drag him off (the ice),” Hynes said. “I mean, he hits that shot probably … I’m telling you in practice, he’s probably doing that 30 to 40 minutes after practice. Then he gets in a game and does it. So, it’s the Catch-22, right? ‘Kirill, can you get off, so you can be rested for the game?’ But then he does this. It is what it is.” And what it is certainly has caught the attention of the entire league, as teams focus more and more defensive attention on Kaprizov and his linemates. Now, his name gets bandied about with the likes of Leon Draisaitl and his Edmonton teammate Connor McDavid, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. As of Thursday, at least two Las Vegas odds-makers had Kaprizov atop the leaderboard for those who want to wager on the eventual Hart Trophy winner. When asked if it’s almost easy to overlook Kaprizov’s offensive contributions because they have become so commonplace, Hynes made it clear that seeing number 97 score goals, whether or not a goalie is present, is never an afterthought. “I’m not sure who’s overlooking it, but you know, we’re certainly not,” he said. “The level of consistency that he’s playing with, at a high level, night in and night out, has been really impressive. And he’s a guy that is a leader of our team on the ice, off the ice. “So, I think to have him playing at the level he’s playing at is, it helps drive the team and it’s nice to see him have success because just coaching him, (you see) the commitment that he has to the game and to the team, and he’s getting rewarded for it.” Manpower update On Sunday, the Wild reassigned forward Travis Boyd and goalie Jesper Wallstedt to their Iowa AHL team. More will become clear when the team has its morning skate prior to playing Chicago at home on Monday, but the moves may be a sign that goalie Filip Gustavsson and forwards Yakov Trenin and/or Joel Eriksson Ek may be returning from the injured list. Boyd, the former Gophers standout, has played three games for the Wild — all of them on the road — without a point this season. Wallstedt, who started Saturday’s 5-0 loss in Winnipeg and had 19 saves, is 0-2-0 in his two games with the Wild this season. Related Articles Minnesota Wild | No relief found in Winnipeg, as Wild are blanked by Jets Minnesota Wild | Wild seek secondary scoring as they fight season’s first adversity Minnesota Wild | Penalty kill struggles again doom Wild in third straight loss Minnesota Wild | Puck to the neck doesn’t sideline Wild D Brock Faber Minnesota Wild | For former Gophers star Logan Cooley, Utah is the newest hockey home