Kirill KaprizOctober

Kirill Kaprizov and the Minnesota Wild players arrived at training camp this fall with a returning core group, a few new faces and the absence of forward Mats Zuccarello, a close chum of Kaprizov’s on and off the ice. 

Would the Wild’s star winger need to adjust his game? 

“We’ll see how the season starts, but just need to be yourself,” Kaprizov said as the Wild opened training camp on Sept. 17. 

Turns out, being himself works just fine.

The season couldn’t have started much better in terms of results for the Wild as a team (a 9-3-3 record in October) and for Kaprizov individually. He scored 14 goals and tallied 10 assists in the first 15 games of the season. The league’s goal scoring leader was named the NHL’s Second Star for October. 

The 29-year-old winger in his seventh NHL season with the Wild is off to the best start of his career. His 14 goals in 15 games the first month of the season match his goal totals in the past three Octobers combined (14 goals in 30 games in Octobers 2023-25). 

Fourteen goals in any month also matched a Wild franchise-high, tying his own mark from March 2022. It’s also the most goals scored by any NHL player in October since Alex Ovechkin scored 14 goals in 2009 with the Washington Capitals.

“The standard that he has for himself and how he is as a person, it doesn’t surprise really any of us,” said forward Matt Boldy. “We all know what he’s capable of. We see it every day.”

Kaprizov scored in 10 of 15 games in October, ranked tied for first in the NHL with 10 even-strength goals. Three of his goals were game winners, and he also ranked tied for third in the league with his 24 points. 

By Halloween, the stats he was putting up were scary enough to frighten opponents. 

“I feel like first couple games, it was a little bit tough. Don’t feel power right away,” Kaprizov said after the Wild’s 2-1 win over Columbus on Oct. 18. “But then after two, three, four games, feel better a little bit now.” 

Modest, since Kaprizov scored a total of three goals in the first two games this season. He was held scoreless the next two games, the longest goal drought of the month for him. If you can call two games without scoring a “drought.” 

He followed that up with the seventh hat trick of his career Oct. 10 as part of a four-point game in a 4-1 Wild victory at the Florida Panthers.  

When Kaprizov gets moving on the ice, the way he’s capable of as an elite player, he’s tough to play and coach against. 

“All you can do is when they get that step on you and they have a little space, you do what you can to keep them to the outside,” said Columbus Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness after the Wild’s 2-1 win on Oct. 18. 

Kaprizov had a three-point game against the St. Louis Blues, part of a stretch of games strong enough to be named the NHL’s Third Start of the Week for the week ending Oct. 18. Kaprizov had a point in all four games (four goals, three assists) that week.

His goal in a 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets also made Wild history. Kaprizov hit the 10-goal mark in only nine games to start the season, beating the previous mark in franchise history when Brian Rolston scored 10 goals in 12 games in 2006-07. 

He’s also the sixth active player to score 10 goals in nine games or fewer in a season, and he’s in good company with Ovechkin, Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Nikita Kucherov and Sidney Crosby. 

Big names, but Kaprizov is a “game-changer” and “world-class player” for the Wild, too, said captain Jared Sprugeon. 

“He can play in all different ways, whether it’s the hard, grinding way down low, or just the way he can shoot the puck from any position, it’s something that a lot of guys can’t do,” Spurgeon said. “He finds a way to get open, find space, and he’s been off to a great start.” 

Kaprizov recorded three multi-goal games in the first month, including scoring the Wild’s only two goals in a 5-2 loss at Winnipeg on Oct. 13, which started a four-game goal streak for him. He ended the month with a goal in each game of the Wild’s three-game winning streak out west against Seattle, Vancouver and Utah, and he added a four-game assist streak from Oct. 24-29. 

He was only held off the scoresheet twice, in a 3-2 overtime loss at Buffalo on Oct. 6, his 400th career NHL game, and a 2-1 loss at Calgary on Oct. 22.

“When Kirill plays the way he’s playing, he’s fast and explosive,” said Wild coach John Hynes, after the Wild’s 5-4 win over St. Louis on Oct. 15. “His puck decisions are good, and when he plays that dog-on-the-bone style of hockey that he’s difficult to contain.” 

Hynes pointed out Kaprizov’s first goal of his two-goal game in Winnipeg. It started with a good forecheck and good sticks. 

“That’s what makes him such a good player, why you appreciate him because when he plays a hard-driving style of game, he’s hard to contain,” Hynes said. “What it does for him is it creates opportunities for him in multiple ways, not just one way like off the rush or in shooting things. He creates multiple situations.”

One of Kaprizov’s greatest assets is his competitiveness, which he’s using in a good way, Hynes said. He’s also been excellent and committed to details of the game when he doesn’t have the puck on his stick, making for a consistent game. 

“He’s hard on the puck, he’s making great decisions with the puck,” Hynes said. “Offensively, he’s in and around the net front. And when he plays that style of game, and because of the talent and the vision, then things open up.”

Kaprizov started the season playing on an all-Russian line, leading the way on the left wing opposite Max Shabanov and Danila Yurov at center. But it wasn’t long before lines were shuffled a bit as other players were injured. By game No. 5 in Florida, Hynes moved Kaprizov to the line with Joel Eriksson Ek and Boldy. 

That superstar line paid dividends immediately for the Wild and has been one of the most productive and dominant in hockey. Just ask teammate Michael McCarron, who told reporters after the Nov. 1 win in Washington that top line was “the best line in hockey.” 

“I think we know what style of game we want to play, and I think it’s sustainable,” Boldy said. “The way we play hard and simple and le the game come to us, and the skill comes out after.” 

Often, Hynes has paired that top forward line with the Wild’s top defensive pairing of Quinn Hughes and his defensive partners to start the season, Spurgeon or Jonas Brodin. Hughes has been one of the team’s top scorers and time-on-ice eaters with four goals and 16 assists in October. 

Hughes assisted on half of Kaprizov's 14 goals in October. One highlight-worthy goal gave the Wild a 4-2 lead Oct. 15 against the Blues. The top line and Hughes were sprung on an odd-man rush, and Hughes had the puck in deep, being just patient enough to send the puck toward the front of the net for a centering attempt. Kaprizov roofed it for the tip-in goal. 

Blink, and you’d miss it.

“The more reps and games we get together, the more we’re just going to be reading off each other,” Hughes said, after the Oct. 15 game. “I feel like we’re getting to a place now where we’re in a good spot with that. 

“It’s just so fun, so fun playing with them.” 

Kaprizov is coming off a 45-goal season, his fourth NHL campaign scoring at least 40 goals. He also tied his career-highs with 19 power-play goals and 32 points tallied on the power play. 

The pace he’s playing with in the first month point to him shattering a lot of his previous career-high numbers.

“As long as Kirill continues to play with the details and the mindset that he’s playing with, then it’s certainly sustainable, because he’s that level of a player,” Hynes said. “It doesn’t mean you’re going to score every game. But it could be points, or you help the team win games.” 

Kaprizov has been close to reaching that 50-goal milestone before.  He started off this season with nearly a goal-per-game pace, and scoring 50 – or even 60? 70? – goals seems more attainable now than ever for the superstar. 

“I hope so,” Kaprizov said during camp. “We’ll see. I’ll try. 

“It’s best when we’re winning, and then points come.”