Kirill Kaprizov is about to break more records – Minnesota Wild

At the beginning of the season, Kirill Kaprizov had a reputation as a slow starter who increased his performance as the season progressed. His career breakdown by month showed that October was his slowest month, scoring “only” 26 points in 25 games.

Well, if this is Kaprizov's “slow” month, we can all hand him the Hart Trophy now.

The superstar winger just put the finishing touches on an October that saw him tear through the NHL like Ash Williams' chainsaw through Deadites.

Kaprizov is tied with Mark Stone for the NHL lead (18) and is the only player in the NHL to average 2.0 points per game. He was the driving force of a Minnesota Wild team that is off to the hot start it was looking for with a record of 6-1-2, tied for second place in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars.

And if you think that's crazy…we're just getting started.

Kaprizov rewriting the Minnesota Wild's record books isn't exactly new. He's been doing this since he was a freshman and there are more records to come. But this hot start is just the latest series of relatively obscure yet great franchise records to falter.

It may not surprise you, but 18 points is the most in franchise history through nine games, and it's not particularly close. Here are the top 12 starts in nine competitions:

2024-25 Kaprizov, 18
2002-03 Marian Gaborik, 13
2008-09 Mikko Koivu, 13
2006-07 Brian Rolston, 12
2022-23 Mats Zuccarello, 12
2001-02 Gaborik, 12
2022-23 Kaprizov, 11
2005-06 Marc Chouinard, 11
2024-25 Matt Boldy, 11
2005-06 Gaborik, 11
2021-22 Zuccarello, 11
2018-19 Zach Parise, 11

And we'll see those records fall further over the next three games. The franchise record for most points in a dozen games is 16 (Gaborik, twice). All Kaprizov has to do to preserve this record is not upset an official NHL scorer to the point where he loses two assists.

This feels like a safe bet.

But hey, how impressive is it when you look beyond the historically low-rated game? Are we just congratulating Kaprizov for overcoming a relatively low bar?

It turns out: no. Once we expand our scope to the entire NHL during the salary cap era, we see that Kaprizov has the fifth-most points total through nine games. His competition?

2023-24 Jack Hughes, 20
2021-22 Leon Draisaitl, 20
2021-22 Connor McDavid, 19
2005-06 Thomas Vanek, 19
2024-25 Kaprizov, 18

The players joining the 18-to-9 club alongside Kaprizov are Steven Stamkos, Evgeni Malkin, Jesper Bratt and Martin Havlat. Guys… is it good to have a better start than, say, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane, Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, Auston Matthews and a host of brilliant scorers ever did?

Let's go one step further and say: Probably.

That's exciting enough, and then add to that the fact that Kaprizov tends to take his time gaining speed and then becomes unstoppable. In his three full seasons as of November 1st, he has put up the following stats:

2021-22: 47 goals, 102 points in 73 games
2022-23: 34 goals, 64 points in 58 games
2023-24: 44 goals, 87 points in 64 games

If we assume he plays the final 73 games of the season and simply project a “normal” November-April season for Kaprizov, we arrive at a potential 52-goal, 113-point season. While he would be “only” fifth on the NHL points list this season (again), a 50-goal, 110-point season would still be an incredible rarity in the modern NHL.

In the salary cap era, only six players have achieved this feat: Ovechkin (twice), Draisaitl (twice), Jaromir Jagr, McDavid, David Pastrnak and Nathan MacKinnon. Re-vote your favorite high-scoring icon from the last two decades. You won't find their names here.

By the way, there were four Hart Trophies and two runner-up finishes in those eight seasons. Just a little food for thought as Kaprizov looks to build on this blistering start.

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