OverDrive - Johnson on Kaprizov re-signing an historic deal with the Wild, why Kaprizov’s agent deserves a ton of credit, and if McDavid will re-set the bar

Episode Date: October 1, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson on Kirill Kaprizov re-signing an historic deal with the Wild, why Kaprizov’s agent deserves a ton of credit, and if Connor McDavid will re-set the bar.

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Cool trip. Unbelievable town. Awesome place. Here's Mike Johnson joining us here, our TSN Hockey analyst. Are you a big proponent of Quebec City? Oh, were you referring to the Dago Bear Bar? Johnny, how many stories did you hear from old school guys that just used to say it was win, lose, or draw? Like I played with some old school guys where they would come up to me before the game and be like, we got to just play hard tonight. Because win, lose or draw, we are going to either the Dego Bear or we're going after it, and we've got to earn it. You've got to earn it. They loved it, man. They loved that place in Quebec City.

I know. You're right. I missed it by a couple years. Now, I've been back a couple times, and, you know, it is a very charming sort of European-feeling city. There you go. Good night life. But, you know, I was too old to really get after it. But, oh, you're so right.

I'm thinking of, like, Craig Will Lannin. Or even Matt. You know, Matt started his career in Quebec, and the stories they would sort of talk about the nights available in Quebec City. Yeah, it's, it's, oh, I mean, it is what it is. You see the contract freeze off got today. They're obviously making good business decisions.

But it seems pretty clear that Quebec City despite the NHL-ready rink and lots of fans there, I don't think. It's sort of like worst-case scenario, you need somewhere to put a team, you can put one there, but there are several other places that the NHO would rather go ahead of Quebec City. Yeah, it doesn't even come up anymore. They don't even waste time asking Gary anymore because it's just not going to happen.

But that is one of the more significant jam jobs in sports history that Quebec City went through all those awful teams where they had first overall pick every single year. And then Lindrosk does what he does and he's not going there. and they end up making an unbelievable trade. Unbelievable trade for Lindrauss. And they go to Colorado and win the cup immediately. Now, Patrick Waugh factored into that,

and I don't think Waugh, I don't know if Waugh would have gone from the Havs to Quebec. I don't think the Habs would have traded them there. Obviously, that was a significant part of that history. But the idea of Quebec City being such a great Canadian market, great hockey market, you know, support of the team forever, they get it ripped away from them, and they go to Colorado and win immediately,

and then again in 2001. Sickening. Sickening, sickening stuff. With the core players that were there in Quebec. Right. I mean, obviously, Patrick was a big change, but like with the guys, and maybe Matt's as well, but like, you know,

primarily the guys that were there, they had the pieces that it would have likely happened or been close to happening Quebec City, and it never really did. It sort of feels like, well, you're the Expos, they're the best team by a, country mile.

During the strike. They had the strike. And you're like, they never recovered. Everybody loves saying that, though, when you got a really good team, like it would have been an automatic victory, though, Johnny. Like, come on.

No, not an automatic victory, but they were miles to be the best team in the league in baseball that year prior to. So, yeah, it's too bad. And, you know, now they get exhibition games. I went and called an exhibition game there in Quebec City a couple years ago.

It's beautiful. But, I mean, I don't know, between Atlanta and Houston and Phoenix and whatever, Kansas City, they're way down the second order. Yeah, they're out. It's not going to happen. It sounds crazy that you just said Atlanta. Like, we've got to go back to Atlanta because, like, there's just some untapped potential there after trying it twice. I don't get it.

Atlanta was the worst place to play in the NHL, the worst. Never felt like you were in the NHL there. Never once. And I played in Arizona. So, like, I know what I'm talking about when it comes. the sketchy franchises. Worst. It was like, it was the worst.

Now, the only good part O, you can pile up the points because they were god-awful. They were so bad. Yeah, I have three hat-tricks. Two were in that building. At it, baby. I think my career high points for game against any team? Atlanta. Well, there you go.

Make sure you get a game face on and you're getting points. The Atlanta Arena was the only time I ever wanted to fight a ref. I scored four goals. my fourth goal was an empty net Kevin Adams the GM in Buffalo went out to the point there was an empty net and a guy tried to keep the puck in and went off Kevin Adams' shoulder

or his arm and it went out into the neutral zone and I grabbed it and I shot it in the net for my only four-goal game in my career I'm jacked up and the ref goes hand pass I said I said ref Do you really care?

This team is garbage. What does it matter? Yeah, it's 5-2 now. It doesn't matter, and you had to call that. I've never been so mad at a ref. Just a hero, too. It's an unnecessary heroic place. Not unnecessary, but it would have been so easy to turn his head the other way

and just say nothing to sit there. And there was no review. There's no review about that back then. There's no advancing of the pock like there is. You can challenge these sort of things now. So, oh, you got job. Listen, oh, I lost a hat-trick my rookie year in Toronto. on an empty netter

when Matt Sending got called for a foot in the crease without a goalie. I'm like, what is happening? Everybody got screwed on that rule, man. What is happening? Yeah, everyone but Brett Hall, evident. Yeah. The only guy who got away with one happened to score the...

You ever want to get screwed out of goals? Just playing a line with Gary Roberts. That's all you have to do. You think you scored... Guaranteed goal interference. Oh, he'd be like, I was in front of the net that nicked my pant, nicked my head, Nick my arm.

I will give him credit. He was always there, man. He was always there. Puck went in. Puck went in. So, Kiro Kaprizov turns down an absolute genius negotiating tactic, turns down $16 million per year, turns his phone off and says, call me back when you can find me $8 million more, and Bill Garrett finds it. Comes back to him and goes, great job with that negotiation.

You were right to turn down $16 million a year. Here's $17 million a year over $8, and the job gets done. What do you make of this? And how does Minnesota, how does Bill Garron possibly explain this when Leon Dreisel is making $14 million? Call me when you get serious. 16, you're not even the ballpark. What are we talking about when the highest paid guy in the league who signed only a year ago only makes $14? he is making over 20% more than Leon Dry Settle,

which is amazing for CapriZoff. But I think about all those guys you talked about, Mariner, but Dry Settle and Ranted and specifically. Players, like, Dry Settle is better than CapriZoff. Ranted and you could argue has had a better career than CapriZov so far. But I heard Frankie, I was listening earlier, like, it's the importance to Minnesota, right?

And I would say this. Right now, CapriZoff is the most important. offensive player to his team in the entire NHL, maybe Posternock in Boston, maybe. But other than that, he is the most important guy because there's nobody else that he can

sort of play with on his level. That doesn't mean he's better than Dry Sutter or McDavid, but there is no Dry Settle or McDavid for him to work with. So that's why he's got, they what do they do if they let him walk? I mean, all Minnesota was hoping for guys

was that he would do what hockey players do and say, you know what, I don't want to look like I'm greedy. I don't want to look like I'm taking every last cent and not worrying about the benefit of the competitive ballots of the team or other players. So even though he could demand 16 or 17, they were hoping he would get, he would have for 15. And I give Caprizo full credit to say, you know what, I'm getting what I can, because I can. And he got the, you know, the massive contract by just,

saying, I know what I'm worth to this organization, and if you guys let me leave, it's going to cripple what could be a pretty good team and the fact guys that they just work through, what, four years of cap hell with Perez and Souter's buyouts, and now they're finally freed up, you know, they don't have that $12.00 cap hit of dead money, and if they let him walk, when they finally have the money to spend, they were just in a box. The same bind in Edmonton Ben, the same bind Toronto was in with Austin Matthews. And you think about Posternak, McKinnon, Matthews, Neelander, like what value, I guess, for those guys now whose contracts are still pretty recent, but they're an absolute steal relative to where the new guys are going to go.

Johnny, you're a big numbers guy. Have you sunk your teeth into the percentage of the cap yet and the ramifications of that on this new deal? Well, I think it was like 16-4, wasn't there or something like that? So, yeah, for next year's cap, right? When the contract's going to start, it's going to be 16.3%. That's third all-time on percentage of the cap. You know who the top two are? McDavid and McDavid?

No. No, number one is Ovechkin. Ovechkin in 0809, 16.8.8. And Elylechuk in 0506, 6.4 million on a $39 million, $39 million. cap. Think about that, and that was 16.4%. So I guess now, like with the Caprisoff money on the books, like where does McDavid go? Percentage of the cap, salary, like, what does this mean for Conner McDavid's deal? So it basically establishes the absolute floor that the Oilers, in good conscience, could offer McDavid on a contract of any length. It could be a one-year deal. It's got to be

17 minimum or more. It could be a three-year deal. It's got to be 17 minimum or more. In fact, if it's going to be a long-term deal, I think given where the cap's going, we have to talk about this many times and how quickly it's going to rise, they almost have to give him 20% because two years from now, 20% is going to be whatever, 17%, which is where he will want to end up. So we either give it to him in two short chunks or give it to him all at once. But it's an absolute floor, and if he gets 17 and a half or 18, then he's still leaving money on the table because he's, you know, he's flat out that much better than Carrillo Caprizov and that bar has been raised. So, I mean, I think McDavid's a bit of a, you know, an entity unto himself

in the NHL. We know we can say whatever number he wants. Evidence is hoping for his good graces, but now, guys, if you're McDavid, can you possibly take 17s? less than 17? I mean, I know you can, but, like, I just, for appearances sake, and for the PA, and for the stars,

like, could you take a two-year deal for 33? I don't think you can. I don't think he can. So, he'll set his bar, but the other guy I'm watching,

guys, Jack Eichol. So who's better? Jack Eichol or Carol Capriza. I mean, Iko plays a more important position. Ico. Eichol, because the position you players.

Yeah. Right, positional importance. Now, he might not be more important to a team, and I could give you a slight discount for tax ramifications. But now I go walk in and say, well, I guess if he's 17, I am net 17 relative to tax reasons, even though Martin just walked in on the 12. I was going to say, Johnny, he might say 17 today, but do you think that would be his number?

Like, do you have any idea, or would he have any idea that Caprizov had that in his ballpark? You know, that's a great question, oh, because I don't know if there's a, text a chat group with all the agents. Yeah, because there might have been like Eichl 13 or 14 or whatever, and he might have been thinking. He's like, now he's just like, what the hell am I doing? Yeah, let me call you back. Yeah, reset, let's do this over.

So, yeah. But I guess this is always, when the big guys were waiting for someone to go first, this is what they were waiting for, right? They weren't waiting for Eichel at 13 and a quarter. That wasn't going to help. Kyle Connor, Jack Eichol, McDavid, it doesn't matter. But this is what they're waiting for. Someone to push it all the way.

And I quite frankly, I like it. I don't think players got to do the team any favors. Teams have shown that when you give them extra money to spend, they don't spend it wisely. They make a ton of mistakes. So make the extra mistake on me, the star, and not some third liner that you're going to give $2 million extra to. So Caprizov pushed it, and to me, it's massive ramifications for salaries right now,

and if the guys don't get the salaries right now they want, doesn't it make sense, say, okay, if you're a Jack Eichol or any of those players of that ill, Kyle Conner, say, I'll take a three-year deal. Because three years from now, the 15 I want won't be a big deal because a whole bunch of guys will be making it. Kail McCar will be making it. Quinn Hughes will be making it. All these guys will be making it, so it won't seem like a problem.

problem, it's, it is a fast-moving adjustment we're trying to make on the salary cap and the value of contracts, and Caprizz off just bumped it big time. I mean, guys, he's making almost, what, 40, 40% more than Miko Ranted in, who signed 12 months ago. That's where I was going to go, Jim, Sidney Crosby. That's where I was going to go, Johnny. Like, Rantan in Colorado didn't want to give him 12 or 12-5, and now less, less, than a year later, this guy's making 17? Like, is Colorado kicking themselves, or are they still just saying

we didn't want to pay that guy? Well, they will when Marty Natchez asked for 13. Like, this is what's going to happen, right? I'm not giving Marty Natchez 13, sorry. Okay, well, you're going to give 11. Would you rather him at 11 or Brandon at 12? Like, the point remains, he's going to get a boatload.

Marty Natchez is an $11 million player to you? I mean, if Kpurok, Kriza, he's 17. Yeah, Natchez is getting up there, yeah. The thing is, Minnesota clearly, like, this feels like an outlier to me. Yeah, like other teams are going to say, that's what Minnesota did. This is banana, like, let's be clear here.

This is an awful negotiation for Minnesota. Horrendous. Yeah. Not awful. They had to do it. They had to do it. I know everyone keep. It's a good number.

It's not a good number. It's horrendous. You can be in a bind and still somehow come out with something that feels like market value. this is probably two and a half. With the cap going up, I thought 14 and a half. Like, yeah, I thought he pushed Leon Drysaddle down just because, but, you know, they're well over that. And so they had to. I get it.

I totally get the leverage and I get the Minnesota tax and I get the buyout to the, I get it all. But you can't look at this day, not every team in the league would offer them that contract. No. In fact, there might not be hardly any other teams in the league that would offer that contract. So not a great deal for the wild financially, even though I understand why they had to do it. Yeah, there's context involved. Every situation is unique. This comes back to their history and their lack of superstars, and he is their superstar.

He's a great talent, a great player. But it's a horrible contract. There's just no disputing it when other teams are getting completely different deals. including Ranting in for 12 in Dallas, Marner for 12 in Vegas. William Nielander is making 1125 or 115. Bargaret. Yes, compared to this guy. And then you look at Florida, you know, they just got Sam Bennett for, what was it, $8 million?

Like, I get Caprisov's much more talented, way better in the regular season. I'm taking Sam Bennett in the playoffs every day of the week over this guy. And he's making more than, way more than double. And that's the thing. Like if you're Bill Zito, if you're Jim Nill in Dallas, if you're, you know, the GM in Vegas, GM in Tampa, you get your feet up saying, man, there's teams in this league that are playing by different rules and they can't catch us. They can't and they won't catch us.

There is a massive opportunity in the next three years for teams that have signed their best players two years ago. So, you know, you think of even all. Ottawa, what they got their guys for. You think about Montreal with Suzuki and what they got their guys for. Like, if you have a great player who makes $8 million, that is, like, that is so much extra money

for you to play with until they get their next contract. Suzuki would ask for $17 million. Suzuki's making eight for another like six years or something. But if this, like, if he was coming up this summer, he would be like, I'll take 16 or 15. He'd take 13 and a half. He'd be

13. Yeah. For sure. Which is crazy, which is like, what is awesome to make? 13 and 13.25. Caprisaw is going to make a lot more money than him. Yeah. Well, you got to take advantage of that, right? Yeah, right. Exactly.

So I think there's opportunity there. You mentioned the Florida teams. Vegas has got two eyes locked in. Yeah, for the teams that have been good and got their guys done. But it's all just this new Wild West financially that the NHL is going through. And it's like a baby-case version of the NBA. Hey, Hayes, you'll remember the year when they got the new money and everybody was getting, I always say Lou Aldang got $130 million.

And you're like, what, what? That guy got a four-year deal for $130 because they had to spend it. Like, that's kind of where the hockey player was going to be. Like, now, does it trickle down, guys? Adrian Kempe, if he's going to push $10 million, is Alex tucked in Buffalo. You're going to be a $10 million player now? He might be. Yeah, because they're going to go to Caprizov and say, if he's 17, I'm at least 10.

It's human nature for a player to say that. Okay, maybe I'm not 17, and that's a different contract, a different market, but you know what? I'm 10. Well, and talk in particular, how different is Buffalo from Minnesota? How different? No, you're right. Not a lot. You also have to ask yourself with these teams that haven't made the playoffs and have money to spend.

Like, how desperate are you? Because if a player becomes a lot. available that you think moves the needle. And if you're a good team and you've got these guys coming up on expiring contracts, you have to ask yourself, if I don't want to pay this guy and I don't want to sign him, am I a better team or a worse team? Am I closer

to a Stanley Cup or further away? And most of the time, Winnipeg's better with Kyle Conner. Vegas is better with Jack Eichol. New York's better with Artemmy Panarin probably. So what do you do? I think that the players finally have the owners. Well, because there's money in the system.

A little, and again, we're not seeing transactions of guys changing teams, but we're seeing transactions of guys getting paid, which is good news for the players. But I was, you know, I was this morning, I saw it, and, like, it was reported at 16. I'm like, well, maybe it was structure. Maybe it was trade protections. Like, no. He waited a week and got 17.

And I just went right to dry saddle. I'm like, I know. Wait. Even if you said the cap goes up 10%. Well, then 10% more than dry settle, 15%. Like, even if you think you're the same with tries out, which you're not, it still should only be 15.4. How they got to 17 and to Hayes' point, like, it's just a one-off unique.

We got the franchise over the barrel, and I don't mind players using it. Because when a franchise has a guy, whether they can sit them out or arbitrate him or wave him or whatever, they do it unapologetically. And so when you are as a player have that opportunity, you should do the same. Well, and that's what's happened. and I do wonder how this has an effect on, or if it will have an effect on McDavid, and does he just wait,

not even because he's leaving Edmonton, just so that the cap can adjust and everyone can adjust and recalibrate with where this is going. Go short. Go short and go big. Give me 17 and a half for two or three years, and then I'll take 20. And he'll get it, man.

Yes. Like this is, again, Capisov, it's not holding out. He has another year left on this. The newest tracks And the next big thing And your first place to hear it all It's Iheart new music

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