Brian Murphy: Wild aren't panicking about Kaprizov, but they should be
Do not let the lazy days of summer and Wild general manager Bill Guerin’s casual shrug to the whereabouts of his superstar and the global sports crisis brewing in Russia put you to sleep.
Kaprizov allegedly remains warm and cozy at home with friends and family while fellow Russian players are accused of defrauding the state and being conscripted into military service to wage more war against battered Ukraine.
Anxiety should be sky-high in the Twin Cities and the rest of the NHL with several high-profile stars not only stuck at home, but in the gears of high-stakes political drama.
This should be the dominant sports story in town, only there doesn’t appear to be any urgency to drill down beyond The Athletic’s reliable diligence.
Related: Unconfirmed reports from Russia spark speculation about Kirill Kaprizov
Eerie Cold War-era gamesmanship between a distracted and exhausted United States and the duplicitous and unforgiving regime of Vladimir Putin’s former Soviet Union is being treated like an annoying distraction from Thursday’s start of the Entry Draft in Montreal.
Make no mistake, folks. This is a flashing-siren emergency for the Wild and the league at the worst possible time for contemporary U.S.-Russia relations.
You think imprisoned WNBA star Brittany Griner and her carry-on cannabis oils are pawns?
She’s been behind bars since February after getting busted at the Moscow airport with contraband. Griner just pleaded guilty to possession during her sham trial and now faces a 10-year sentence despite State Department claims of unlawful detention and Griner begging President Biden to rescue her from the hell of being locked up abroad.
Just wait until Putin dispatches his ex-KGB goons to kick down the door of Kaprizov’s bedroom, shove the reigning Rookie of the Year into a van and dump him at the nearest barracks for a tour of duty shoveling manure. Or, worse, they shove a rifle in the Calder Trophy winner’s hands and order him to storm Kyiv with the rest of Russia’s brutal war machine.
Do not put anything past these vile human beings, who have plundered Russia’s riches and stifled dissent for decades while wondering what all the fuss is about.
Repression, tyranny and literally poisoning people is what Putin does best. It would be all-too convenient to trump up charges that Kaprizov and other players falsified military IDs to avoid mandatory service and prevent them from returning to their North American teams.
Russian newspaper Sport-Express reported Wednesday that law enforcement last week linked Flyers goaltending prospect Ivan Fedotov to a fraudulent ID and banished him to a remote military base in northern Russia before he could return to Philadelphia and compete for a starting job at training camp.
The paper also wrote that Kaprizov fled to the United States after learning about Fedotov’s detour. Guerin denied that Kaprizov was stateside Wednesday when he met with reporters covering the draft.
"He’s in Russia, and he’s doing fine," Guerin said."He’s with his friends and with his family."
He’s also a sitting duck thousands of unprotected miles from his professional freedom. But at least he’s eating mom’s borscht.
All the "no-big-whoop" quotes trickling out of Guerin and his colleagues are essentially a smokescreen for “we don’t know anything more than you do.”
The NHL has told its teams they’re on their own trying to secure the safety and availability of their players. Traveling logistics already were a mess among the U.S., Canada, Russia and Belarus since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
And now this international riddle, wrapped in a hockey mystery, inside an informational enigma.
Russian men ages 18-27 must serve one year in the military, but Olympic and other star athletes have long been able to skirt or defer that obligation.
Sport-Express reported Kaprizov’s father, Oleg, denied that his son bought a fraudulent military ID to avoid service. Kaprizov, according to The Athletic, is a student of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, which allows him to defer his military duty. But that exemption reportedly expired June 30.
There are conflicting reports about the veracity of Russia’s claims of ID fraud involving its hockey stars. The lack of reliable information makes it impossible to truly assess the threat.
One wayward quote from a GM, player or agent could upend a delicate chess match that is about so much more than hockey players and training camp reporting dates.
Kaprizov, 25, is entering the second season of a five-year, $45 million contract with the Wild, who drafted the 2018 Olympic gold medalist three years earlier in the fifth round. The wait was certainly worth it.
Kaprizov was spectacular for Minnesota in his long-awaited debut, scoring a franchise-record 47 goals among 108 points. As an encore, the speedy sniper bagged seven goals in six playoff games during the Wild’s first-round no-show against the St. Louis Blues.
Guerin reportedly urged Kaprizov not to return to Russia during the offseason because of all the uncertainty. However, spending the summer with loved ones instead of alone in Minnesota naturally lured Kaprizov back home.
When will he return to Minnesota?
"All I’m trying to do is get information and not jump the gun or push the panic button on anything,” Guerin insisted.
Until Kirill the Thrill is back breaking bread at Moscow On The Hill and lacing up his skates at the Xcel Energy Center, I’ll take the mallet from you, Bill, and pound that panic button.
