The Minnesota Wild’s owner, Craig Leipold, spoke to the media during the first intermission of the Wild’s preseason game against the Dallas Stars on Thursday, Sept. 25. There were, of course, a lot of questions regarding Kirill Kaprizov and his contract, but Leipold did not speak much on the matter.
However, he did address the renovations he hopes to have done on Grand Casino Arena as well as a few other topics, like how he feels about the salary cap going up. In this article, we’ll take a look at a few of the topics, starting with the little bit he talked about Kaprizov.
Leipold Quiet About Kaprizov
It’s no surprise the first question asked of Leipold was about Kaprizov’s contract, and although he stayed pretty quiet about the situation, using the phrase, “There’s nothing to gain, everything to lose” in regards to Kaprizov, he did talk about what he’s learned through this process and others over his tenure as owner.
“I have a lot of patience, Billy’s (Guerin) the guy. He’s the one that does the negotiating, no matter who it is, and that’s his responsibility, his role, and I think we’ve got a great relationship, so I’m very happy with the relationship.” Leipold said about what he’s learned as an owner with this process, and he continued with how things changed this season in regards to free agency, “A lot of things changed in the NHL, and you know, cap went up, people had more money, so there weren’t players that we were that interested in.”
While this past free agency period didn’t go as the Wild had hoped, and Kaprizov hasn’t signed his contract yet, there’s still a chance for this next free agency period, and there is still time for a contract to be signed. Leipold still has hope and has a plan for this season, regardless of what happens.
“I mean, I hope so, I think that’s what every fan is hoping that we can go out and their team can get a difference maker. I certainly have that same feeling. It didn’t happen last summer, and the hope is that at the trade deadline, things will open up and we’ll see,” Leipold said in hopes that more players will be available this season. Towards the end of the interview, he was asked about any tampering issues, and he kept it short.
“Am I concerned? Sure, but I’ve heard nothing, and I don’t feel like there’s any tampering going on, so I think we’ll find out if it ever is, but right now we know, we haven’t heard anything,” said Leipold when asked about any contract tampering rumors.
Leipold Talks Salary Cap
While Leipold is in charge of the team, he has a lot of trust in his general manager, Bill Guerin, and lets him take care of the majority of the personnel choices. While things haven’t worked out as planned in some areas, Guerin has also made some strong choices that have worked out well.
“I’m not in the room. Billy will call afterwards and let me know how it went. You know, Billy can be a pain in the a**. I don’t know if you guys know that, but I try to put him on the right road. I’m just kidding. Yeah, we’ve got a great relationship, but it’s his job, that’s what he does, and I think we’re all good,” said Leipold about how involved he is in the day-to-day aspect of contract negotiation.
The game has changed dramatically over the years with rule changes, players coming and going, but the biggest difference is the salary cap rise. After COVID, it took the NHL a bit of time to rebound, as did every other major sport, but the NHL has bounced back and then some. The salary cap is going to go up over the next few seasons, and everyone in the league will have to adjust to the new money coming in.
“I think that’s true, and I think it does feel like that. There clearly is now more money in the system, caps going up, teams have more ability than they have in the past. There’s less movement going on right now, and I’d say it’s fair to say with the cap going up, seven million, and then eight million, and then nine million. That’s a lot of new money in the system, that frankly, a year or two ago we certainly had no idea was going to be available, so it does change things and we have to change with it,” said Leipold about how they aren’t the only ones going through adjustments because of the salary cap.
Leipold spent quite a bit of time talking about the salary cap and how it’s affected the Wild. He went into a bit more detail about how it’s going to be hard with more money on the line, but he wants his team to be competitive, and they’re going to do what they need to do to reach that.
“Yeah, that’s our plan, that is our plan, and we’ve been a cap team every year so far. Cap going up, it’s a little more painful when you look at what that means, but we also know we want to be more than just a playoff team. So we have to take advantage of everything that we can and every player that can be out there, and if that means spending to the cap, then that’s our plan,” said Leipold about their future regarding the cap.
Leipold Speaks Arena Renovations
Grand Casino Arena held its first hockey game in the year 2000 and hasn’t had much done in terms of upgrades over those years. 25 years is a long time for a building, especially an arena, to not have any changes made.
“I don’t know where you heard that we were a top-five destination arena in the NHL. I think we have a really nice arena, but it is 26 years old now, and there are things that people don’t see behind the walls that need to be upgraded, and need to be brought to today’s environment, and there are certainly a lot of things that we need to do that US Bank now has and Target Field has. Those amenities that fans are looking for, they’ve seen in this market, those facilities that have them, and they want them here. We don’t have them,” said Leipold about what changes need to be made to compete.
“That’s one of the things that we need to get in order to survive. In the NHL you have to not only be in a market, a great market, which we are in, we need to be in a really good building that gives us the opportunity and the chance to take advantage of all of the revenue streams that our competitors have in the NHL and that’s where we need to be,” he added about how important these renovations are.
The Wild were turned down on one offer already, but according to Leipold, it takes time to get these things done. It takes a lot of moving pieces, and it doesn’t happen right away. However, they feel it can and will happen in time.
“I’m an optimistic person, and the first year you go knocking on the door, it’s unusual if you get it. So this is actually our second or third year, depending on how hard you might think we worked the first year, but we feel it’s important, and we need to make our case. We have a mayor that is really supportive, we have a county that we’re working with right now, and they have a very open mind as to things that they may be able to do. We just have to get the state involved, as they have with all the other facilities in our market, and we need to get them involved here,” said Leipold about how the process works.
“I would say we haven’t done anything, we’re kind of redoing our case and rethinking how we’re going to approach the state. We haven’t gone back up there,” Leipold said about his confidence in getting the funding and added, “I’m not saying the county is on board, I’m saying they’re listening and they’re talking in meetings. They understand, I think they understand their responsibility to this, and they have an open mind about it. We haven’t talked specifics, and I don’t want to be too ambitious of where I think they are, but they’re listening with a pretty good attitude.”
Wild’s Season Ticket Sales & TV Deals
“Season tickets have been really good, renewal was 93% last I heard, and I don’t know if it’s been going up since then….The season ticket base is good, sponsorships have been fantastic, highest they’ve ever been. Our business is good, and it’s good and it’s in an older arena that doesn’t have the same kinds of opportunities for us to sell sponsorships that other arenas have, so we’re real happy where we are. We know we’re going to be able to do more once we get a new arena built, and we’ll move on from there,” Leipold said, and mentioned when he said “new arena,” he meant renovations to the existing arena, not a brand new building.
Everyone has heard about the issues with different teams and their broadcasting abilities. The Wild haven’t avoided it, but luckily, they haven’t lost any coverage. They are unsure of where they’ll be on television next season, but it appears they have plans in place no matter what.
Related: 2 Takeaways From Wild’s 5-2 Preseason Loss to Stars
“You’re right, we’re with FanDuel right now, they may be around next year. This time last year, we didn’t think they’d be around, and they’re around. Things are going well, so what happens next year, I will tell you all the options are on the table..Mitch back here…He’s the guy that is our point guy with all the opportunities that we have, so no matter what happens with FanDuel, and again we like FanDuel, but if they’re not around next year, we’ll be ready for something else,” Leipold said about their future television deal.
Leipold & Wild Under Pressure
The Wild have been under the microscope ever since Kaprizov’s contract extension has been in the works. It’s a difficult situation from all angles, and until a deal is made, it’s not going to get any easier. Hopefully, this contract gets signed sooner rather than later, and Kaprizov stays with the Wild and helps them make a deep run in the postseason.
