Kirill Kaprizovs All-Star Weekend: Stick swaps, babysitting and how he got out of fastest skater -

SUNRISE, Fla. — Kirill Kaprizov was packing up his gear after Saturday’s All-Star Game and ready to hit the shower when somebody approached him.

“The guy said, ‘Sid asked if he can have your stick,’” Kaprizov recalled Monday. “I go, ‘Sid?’

“‘Wait, Sid Crosby?’”

The Wild’s third-year star laughed at the memory. “He goes, ‘Yeah,’” he continued. “I don’t know why he’d want my stick. But I gave Sid my stick, and I asked if I can have one from him. Then he sent one over.”

A few minutes later, another person approached Kaprizov.

“‘Connor asked if he can have your stick,’” Kaprizov recalled, smiling.

“I go, ‘McDavid?’” Kaprizov said, laughing again.

“The guy goes, ‘Yeah.’ So I gave him one of my sticks, and then I got one from McDavid.

“Big honor. Humbling.”

Kirill the Thrill pic.twitter.com/axw7B4nCxT

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 2, 2023

It was one of the highlights of an interesting All-Star Weekend for Kaprizov, who didn’t have a point in either game he played as the Central Division lost to the Tkachuk brothers, Dylan Larkin and the rest of the Atlantic Division in the final after beating the Pacific in the semifinal. He also accidentally passed the puck once to Detroit’s Larkin on the other team. He said he got confused because the Central played in black jerseys in the first game and he forgot he was wearing the lighter jersey in the second.

“It’s hard when you don’t play for two hours,” Kaprizov said, laughing.

The games Saturday came after the skills events Friday, when Kaprizov became a story for not taking part in any competition. That followed two days of horse-trading behind the scenes that are a window into how these skills competitions come together.

According to sources in the league office, about a week before All-Star Weekend, Wild general manager Bill Guerin called to tell the officials Kaprizov was dealing with nagging upper-body soreness and to ask if Minnesota’s leading scorer could be left out of shooting events.

The league said no problem and instead assigned Kaprizov to the fastest skater competition.

One problem: Kaprizov didn’t want to do it.

“The thing is that I’m not the fastest player,” Kaprizov said Saturday.

He asked to be removed, but the request either wasn’t received or was declined because when the competitors were announced Thursday, he was assigned to the event anyway.

Kaprizov again told the league he didn’t want to participate. But around 3 o’clock Friday, the league confirmed to the Wild that Kaprizov would be in the competition because Kings forward Kevin Fiala had also bowed out because of injury concerns.

Fiala was squeamish about the fastest skater competition because in 2017 he broke his left femur crashing into the end boards during the playoffs.

However, according to sources, on the bus ride to the arena, the former Wild teammates talked and decided they would both take part in the event. By that point, though, the league had room for only five skaters. So about three minutes before the event, Kaprizov was relieved of his duty.

Monday, Guerin confirmed what sources told The Athletic: “Kirill was willing to do it at the very end and was told they didn’t have room. Trust me, he didn’t want to not participate. All these guys have (injury) concerns.”

Kaprizov also said he was ready to go, “but people came and said, ‘You’re not going to go,’ and that’s it.”

Kaprizov said he was willing to compromise and do something else, but the league had each event assigned to other players. He took part in the “Tendy Tandem” event like most other non-goalies. He said it made for “a very long” night for him: “We were on the bus at 3 and didn’t get back to the hotel until 11.”

Team Kirill: Let's Go! 💪#mnwild x #NHLAllStarGame pic.twitter.com/VpT22nicZY

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 4, 2023

As for the game, Kaprizov said he had fun and wanted to be there, even though his body language at times left the impression he was coasting.

Kaprizov denied the lack of effort, saying it’s an honor to play in the All-Star Game. In his eight professional seasons, he has taken part in seven All-Star games (five in the KHL). The only season he didn’t play in one was his abbreviated NHL rookie year because there wasn’t one.

Kaprizov said his second NHL All-Star Game in Florida was more special than his first in Las Vegas because there were so many Russian players. He got to hang out with Alex Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov, Vladimir Tarasenko and two of his closest friends: the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin and the Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin.

Our ⭐️ has arrived! #mnwild x #NHLAllStarWeekend pic.twitter.com/9C1gFYQWbE

— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 3, 2023

Wild fans surmised Kaprizov might have been bummed he couldn’t be in Cabo with 17 of his Wild teammates, but Kaprizov also said that wasn’t accurate.

He and his girlfriend spent four days in South Florida before his All-Star Weekend responsibilities kicked off, and he always intended to spend time before the weekend with Shesterkin and Sorokin, his old CSKA Moscow teammate.

“We had a nice day together,” Kaprizov said.

Guerin also said he doesn’t feel critics are “reading it right.”

“(Kaprizov) wanted to be there and was proud to represent the Wild and our fan base,” Guerin said. “But, look, you need rest, too. Most of these guys in the All-Star Game are the ones that lay it all on the line, and they need rest.”

Monday, after the Wild’s pregame skate, Kaprizov joked that next year his comrade in arms, Mats Zuccarello, will have to take part in the All-Star Game with him. Zuccarello, in the next stall, said no way: “I want my vacation.”

Kaprizov said one of his favorite parts of the weekend was getting to know young Stars star Jason Robertson. They were 1-2 in the Calder Trophy race two years ago, though Kaprizov got 99 out of 100 first-place votes. “It wasn’t much of a race,” Robertson said. The pair were linemates in the All-Star Game and sat next to each other in the locker room.

@RussoHockey pic.twitter.com/t4jID5bAZV

— CJ Fogler AKA Perc70 #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) February 4, 2023

The highlight of the weekend for Kaprizov was getting to babysit Ovechkin’s 4-year-old, Sergei. Asked what he talked to Sergei about, Kaprizov said, “He asked one question: When is my turn for the penalty shot?”

Kaprizov loved the kid’s move to beat Hall of Famer Roberto Luongo:

Elite line. #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/rHSKHtJPQH

— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) February 4, 2023

After scoring a franchise-record 47 goals and 108 points last season, Kaprizov leads the Wild with 27 goals and 59 points in 48 games this season. He has two goals and five assists in the past five games and hasn’t been enthralled by his game of late.

That’s why he said the break came at a good time.

“(I’ve) had ups and downs,” Kaprizov said. “(I’m) not as stable as last year, so it was good to catch a breath and focus on the rest of the season and playoffs. It was a good break.”

(Photo: Eliot J. Schechter / NHLI via Getty Images)

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