Kaprizov's comfort level in NHL matching production for Wild

Kirill Kaprizov had a translator next to him during media day at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend. It's typical for the Minnesota Wild forward to have some assistance when he does interviews in English, because it's not his first language.

But this time, the 25-year-old forward, born and raised in Russia but playing in Minnesota since 2021, wanted to handle some of the answers on his own, even though a microphone was booming out his voice through a speaker to his left.
Are you comfortable in the spotlight now, or did that have to grow on you?
"I think my first year, it's not like it is now," he said in clear English. "It was my first year in the NHL and it was COVID too. Now it's so much easier for me. I know English better. I know more people. It's so much better now."
Kaprizov's translator stood behind him and listened, smiling.
He kept speaking in English, turning every so often back to the translator just for reassurance or when he needed a word.
Kaprizov does this occasionally, but the simple fact he was comfortable enough to answer a few questions in English knowing it wasn't necessarily a private conversation was an obvious indication of how far he has come since arriving in Minnesota before the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 56-game 2020-21 season.
Part of it is his growth in understanding the language. Part of it is understanding how impactful he is as a player.
Kaprizov, who scored his 30th goal of the season in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers on Monday, leads Minnesota with 63 points (33 assists) in 53 games.
The Wild (28-20-5) are third in the Central Division, hanging on but still in line to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth straight season heading into their game against the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; TNT, SN NOW).

Kaprizov was fifth in the NHL and led Minnesota last season with 108 points (41 goals, 67 assists) in 81 games, after he won the Calder Trophy, voted as NHL rookie of the year, with 51 points (27 goals, 24 assists) in 55 games in 2020-21.
He is the Wild's all-time leader in points per game (1.17) and is already 10th in goals (104) and 14th in points (222) on Minnesota's all-time scoring lists despite playing 189 games, at least 122 fewer than any of the nine players ahead of him in goals and 13 in front of him in points.
"I'm more comfortable because I know that I've been playing well and I think that goes for every player," Kaprizov said, this time using the assistance of the translator to get his point across. "My teammates really helped me ice when I got here to feel better on and off the ice."
But Kaprizov picks his spots, because being in the spotlight means the focus is taken off his team, and all he cares about is the Wild winning and how he can help them win, in that order.
"There's a lot of times he's spoke well enough to be interviewed, but he didn't want to be interviewed," Minnesota coach Dean Evason said. "I don't blame him. He just wants to go about his business. He wants to play the game. He loves the game. If you watch our practices, he's usually the last guy out there working on his game and commitment level. When we've struggled, he's the first one that wants to know what he can to do help us get out of a struggle situation. He's a leader on our hockey club."
He's the Wild's most important player, which means he better be comfortable in the spotlight because it's on him locally in the State of Hockey, nationally across the League and internationally, too.
"I've played with some good players, but the way he is, he's one of the best for sure, if not No. 1," forward Mats Zuccarello said. "He works hard. He's good at everything. The most important thing for me is he's a really good guy too. He's always ready."
Part of Kaprizov's readiness is how he arrived in the NHL. He came in mature, at the age of 23 after already playing 293 regular-season games and 47 playoff games across six seasons in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League.

He was a five-time KHL all-star, led the league in goals twice and won the Gagarin Cup, the KHL championship, in 2018-19.
"I think that made a difference," said New York Rangers forward Vladimir Tarasenko, who played two seasons in the KHL before arriving in the NHL during the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season, when he was 21. "It's kind of the same when I came over at my age, you just know what to expect. He played against men before and it makes him more comfortable."
Evason said the highlights he saw from Kaprizov in the KHL matched what he brought to the Wild as soon as he got to the NHL. There were the goals and slick plays, of course, but there were also puck battles in front of the net and in the corners that he would win, a relentless competitiveness that would show on every shift.
Nothing has changed nearly 200 games into his NHL career.
"I don't know if there is a progression," Evason said. "I just honestly believe that he's not only that good, he's that competitive. I don't see him working harder or doing something differently than he did his very first game or he did his last game. He works his [butt] off. He has a team-first mentality. He commits to the defensive end. Does he turn the puck over sometimes like every other hockey player in the world? Yeah, but you're that gifted, there is some leeway there. But he plays hard each and every night. We honestly haven't seen a difference in him from game one to right now."
Except in how he feels now with the spotlight on him, which was evident when he sat at his podium during All-Star Weekend, the sun splashing on him, the waves crashing into the sand behind him, Kaprizov among the best of the best in the NHL, right where he belongs.
"I'm comfortable," Kaprizov said in English.