The Best Russian In The Game?

Officially, I am proposing that the helmet to the left becomes the new logo for the Vegas Golden Knights if they show up in Game Three with the same effort they showed tonight. I can't recall a playoff game in recent memory where the Vegas Golden Knights have had the game taken to them in T-Mobile Arena like the Minnesota Wild did tonight. Outside of a handful of chances early, the Wild legitimately disarmed and dismantled the Golden Knights from the nine-minute mark through to the end of the first period. When the carnage finally stopped for an intermission, the score was 3-0 for the Wild and the Vegas fans were silent and stunned as Minnesota erased any "sweep" talk in showing they could skate with Vegas!

I don't know what it will cost Minnesota to keep Kirill Kaprizov in Minneapolis/St. Paul, but an eight-figure average annual value on the next contract seems appropriate considering how he's raised his game in the first two games of this series. Tonight was another masterclass in Kaprizov showing he distributes the puck, but consider the following highlight from Game One. This pass is ridiculous.
Kaprizov spots Matt Boldy on the left side and changes his slapshot into a slap-pass while his stick is in the air, setting up Boldy for the Wild goal. That kind of vision and skill where he can make a perfect tape-to-tape pass after winding up for a slapshot is why Kaprizov will get big money on his next contract with whatever team can afford it.

Fast-forward to tonight, and Kaprizov and Boldy deliver again with Kaprizov saucering a pass that may be illegal in several countries.
That pass went virtually went from the Minnesota blue line to the Vegas blue line without even a wobble, and Boldy picked it up as it landed flat against his blade. That kind of pass is only made as perfect as it was by a handful of people in the world, and it got the Wild started on this night as they went up 1-0 on Boldy's goal.

"That might have been the best pass I've ever seen," Boldy told reporters after the game. "Like, I didn't have to do much. He's a special player, obviously. You see all the plays he makes, how hard he works, but for him to have the poise and to make that pass right on my tape, it was unbelievable."

I'm taking nothing away from the likes of Artemi Panarin and Nikita Kucherov who have their own bag of tricks when it comes to scoring, and they score often enough that players have to be aware of them when they're on the ice. The difference is those two Russian players play in more offensive systems than what Minnesota employs, and yet Kaprizov has hit the 40-goal plateau three times in four seasons. He had 96 points last season when no other player on the Wild hit 70 points. It seems clear that Kaprizov is an offensive talent.

What people seem to forget is that Kirill Kaprizov was the fifth fastest active player to reach 300 points, reaching that mark faster than both Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl. He was the Calder Trophy winner in 2020-21 when he entered the league at age 23, and all he's done since that time is spill ink on scoresheets. Staying healthy has been a challenge for Kaprizov, but if this is what he looks like when he's playing at 100%, every team should be on notice.

As Minnesota comes home for Game Three, he should see some better matchups away from Vegas's more defensively-minded players. That could allow him to improve on his five points in a big way, but it should be noted that Kaprizov also has seven blocked shots through the opening two games of the series. If anyone thinks he's just floating near a blue line or avoiding the defensive side of the game, the Wild would disagree wholeheartedly. As it stands after tonight's game, Kaprizov is tops among all NHL forwards when it comes to blocked shots, and he trails leader Devon Toews by three.

It's not out of the question to say that the Wild will go as far as Kirill Kaprizov takes them, but I'm sure they'd proclaim that it's a team-first mentality in the locker room. Regardless of what is said, Kaprizov is making statements on the ice with his skill as shown in the highlights above, and it's hard not to be impressed with how good he's been on both sides of the puck. No one is saying he's in line for the Conn Smythe Trophy at this point by any means, but he's starting to make a case if the Wild can get that far in these playoffs.

Is he the best Russian-born player in the game right now? It's hard to argue against that assertion, but it's clear that he'd be in the conversation. With magic hands like he's shown in the first two games of this series, Las Vegas may want to ban him from casinos because he's heloing the Minnesota Wild beat the odds in this series!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!