• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • Atlantic Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Metropolitan Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Pacific Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle NHL
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • THW Archives
  • More…
    • Columns
    • NWHL
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • Long Read
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • Atlantic Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Metropolitan Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Dallas Stars
      • Minnesota Wild
      • Nashville Predators
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • Pacific Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle NHL
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • THW Archives
  • More…
    • Columns
    • NWHL
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • Long Read
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
Minnesota Wild
Wild Prospects

Kirill Kaprizov Wants to Play in the NHL

By Alessandro Seren Rosso November 25th, 2017

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

This summer, one of the most chatted-about prospects in the KHL, Kirill Kaprizov, moved to CSKA Moscow and then signed a contract up to April 2020. In this translated interview, Kaprizov declared that he still wants to play in the NHL and talked about life in the big city of Moscow in contrast with his native village near Novokuznetsk.

* To enjoy the original Russian interview by Alexei Shevchenko, click here. *

Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov during a 2017-18 KHL game. (Photo: cska-hockey.ru)

Move to Moscow

Alexei Shevchenko: Where did you settle down in Moscow after you moved to CSKA from Salavat Yulaev Ufa?

Kirill Kaprizov: At the Khodynka Field. Half of the team lives there. You’ve got no chances to get bored there. Nikita Nesterov always asks me to spend some time at his place. But my linemate Maxim Shalunov doesn’t have too much time for that as he’s busy with his family, but we have lunch together sometimes. There’s a nice park there where you can have a walk.

AS: What restaurants do you like the best?

KK: We usually go to the mall next to the arena – in Moscow, it’s very hard to move because of the traffic jams. And why should you waste time on the metro when you have such a calendar?

AS: Many players don’t like the way the calendar looks.

KK: I like it. We play constantly, not many practices. Of course, practicing is always interesting, but playing is just better.

AS: What did you find in CSKA that you didn’t have in Ufa?

KK: Quite the contrary: at CSKA arena there is no chak-chak. I loved it, but here it’s not sold. Regarding the organization, I don’t feel any difference.

Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov (Photo: Vadim Kitayev, www.ak-bars.ru)

AS: In the locker room, you don’t sit in the best place.

KK: Yes, I’m kind of separated from the rest of the team. Let me explain. I was sitting in a normal place, but then more experienced players arrived and I moved where I am now. I liked it and I didn’t want to move from there. When Vyacheslav Osnovin left the team, I was asked to take his place, but I refused. Too comfortable. But it has one minus.

AS: That is?

KK: I’m sitting next to the trashcan, and everyone just tries to hit the bullseye from the distance. Mostly, they fail. So I need to help with cleaning up.

AS: Do you also take pucks away, perhaps?

KK: Yes, sometimes I assign the task to Nikita Makeyev, one of our younger defensemen, but only when I need to go fast. It happens very rarely, so usually it’s my task.

AS: Did you buy yourself a big car now that you moved to CSKA?

KK: It’s a good car, but I’m not a cars enthusiast. Sometimes I don’t like the attitude we have in Russia towards cars. I talked about it with Nikita Nesterov. He told me that in America no one cares about your transport mean. And here you kind of have to own a big car. Once again, this is not for me. I don’t follow new cars, I don’t buy cars magazines. I bought a car, and all. We’re now building a house.

Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov battling for the puck during a 2017-18 KHL game. (Photo: spartak.ru)

AS: A good one?

KK: It’s followed more by my father. But we want to build a good house. Maybe we’ll even build an ice rink to play there.

AS: Formally, you’re still living in Novokuznetsk, right?

KK: Yes, but in our little Kuzdeyevo we still own a house. We’re building there. I’d visit the village right now, but I don’t have time for that. We had a couple of free days recently, but there was little sense in doing such a trip for just one day. But maybe next time I’ll fly. I miss those places.

AS: Now you can fly in business class.

KK: Why to spend a lot of money for a four-hour fly? Usually, there isn’t a lot of people flying to Novokuznetsk, so you can be alone in your row. That is, you have three places all for you. You can rest and sleep.

AS: What kind of house did you have in Kuzdeyevo? Did you keep livestock?

KK: Not us, but we had a common yard with another house and there were always chickens and pigs running around. Our neighbors had a cow and we got milk from them. But although I greet everyone I met, and they recognize me, right now I don’t know a lot of people there.

Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov (Photo: Andrei Chudayev, metallurg-nk.ru)

I was playing hockey in Novokuznetsk since I was very young. It was a one-hour trip in the early morning, and the same to get back in the evening. So we moved to Novokuznetsk later, it was more comfortable.

AS: The arena in Novokuznetsk is terrible.

KK: I love it. I know everything there, it’s my ideal place. The playing area is great, there is a good place for the guests as well. It’s my favorite arena in our country.

AS: But maybe you’ll settle down in Moscow later.

KK: I doubt it. I’d move my brother here, but we couldn’t so far. It would be better with him. Of course, sometimes you want to be alone, but we already discussed this. My father gets here, but my mother could not.

AS: Where does your mother work?

KK: She’s a physical education teacher. She’s got a complicated job. Very complicated.

AS: I can imagine that. Today working with kids is becoming harder and harder.

KK: She works at school with kids with reduced mobility. No one is going to envy her job. Once I visited her there. I tell her to stop working and rest, but she doesn’t want to.

Kirill Kaprizov with a steal of the day/week/month. pic.twitter.com/nsi2GhHfMr

— KHL (@khl_eng) October 30, 2017

AS: And now the most important question: why you are not in Minnesota? If you didn’t sign a contract with CSKA up to 2020 you could fly there next spring.

KK: Well, you know that they weren’t too interested in me. What round was I picked at? The fifth? “I think that they forgot about me immediately after the selection. Only when I made it to the WC they started to do something and started talking with my agent. We all seen the job the Maple Leafs did with Nikita Zaitsev. There was nothing like that with me. I want to play in the NHL. Just not now, but a bit later. At first, I need to play well here, to be more confident. Sometimes I don’t play well even here, in the KHL.

Kirill Kaprizov’s Play in the KHL

AS: You were disappointed as you didn’t score for four games straight.

KK: I couldn’t score a single point in my first ten games for Salavat Yulaev Ufa last year. It was very hard and I was worried that it would have been the same.

AS: Why did you participate in the practice before the game against HC Sochi? It was an optional one.

KK: Many players attended the practice. And well, it was also because it was an optional one. I needed to do something to change the situation. I got worried if I don’t score points. But of course, the most important thing is that the team wins.

Kirill Kaprizov

Kirill Kaprizov salutes the crowd during a 2017-18 KHL game. (Photo: cska-hockey.ru)

AS: You mother is a teacher. Did you always have good marks at school?

KK: I always had good marks. Until the eighth grade, I didn’t even get a single C. But then, of course, it was harder to find time to study. That said, I always worked hard to have good marks in Russian language and mathematics.

AS: And what about English language?

KK: Ryan Stoa helped me. In the sense that I didn’t enjoy that at school, then I met him and I understood that I really had a lack there. I started trying listening more to my teachers. Unfortunately, my English remained pretty weak. I can talk a bit with our foreign players, but not too much.

AS: It’s impossible to move to the NHL without knowing the language.

KK: The guys say that if you don’t have Russian teammates you just need a couple of months to start understanding and talking. But of course it would be much better to move if you already know the language, you’re right.

  • Tags
  • Kirill Kaprizov
  • Top Story
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Facebook Comments

Editor’s Picks
7 Biggest NHL Players in Today's Game

7 Biggest NHL Players in Today's Game

64576
10 Potential Names for a New Seattle NHL Franchise

10 Potential Names for a New Seattle NHL Franchise

84990
Recent Posts
Dec 13th 8:35 AM
Women's Hockey

Beauts Ruggiero Busy On the Ice and Behind the Bench

Dec 13th 1:43 AM
Arizona Coyotes

Keller Scores Twice, First-Place Coyotes Beat Blackhawks 5-2

Dec 13th 1:33 AM
Calgary Flames

Gaudreau Scores Twice in Flames’ 4-2 Victory over Maple Leafs

Dec 13th 1:23 AM
Edmonton Oilers

Staal, Kunin Help Wild Recover to Beat Oilers 6-5

Dec 13th 1:13 AM
St Louis Blues

Sundqvist Has Goal, Assist as Blues Beat Golden Knights 4-2

Dec 13th 1:13 AM
New York Rangers

Rangers Spoil Boughner’s Debut with 6-3 Win over Sharks

Dec 13th 1:04 AM
Carolina Hurricanes

Pettersson, Markstrom Lead Canucks to 1-0 Victory over Hurricanes in Overtime

Dec 13th 1:03 AM
Boston Bruins

Stamkos Scores 2 to Lead Lightning past Slumping Bruins 3-2

Dec 13th 12:53 AM
Detroit Red Wings

Red Wings Snap 12-Game Skid with 5-2 Win over Jets

Dec 13th 12:43 AM
Florida Panthers

Islanders Overpower Panthers to Sweep Season Series

Stay in Touch
Contact Us

Via our Newsletters
RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Our Partners
HFBoards

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

Join over 18 000 Subscribers of our free bi-weekly Newsletter.

© The Hockey Writers 2018. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • Atlantic Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
  • Metropolitan Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Dallas Stars
    • Minnesota Wild
    • Nashville Predators
    • St Louis Blues
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • Pacific Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle NHL
    • Vegas Golden Knights
    • Vancouver Canucks
  • Store
  • The THW Archives
  • Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • The Goalie Page
  • NHL Salary Cap Information
  • Join Our Team
  • Search THW