Wild news: Kirill Kaprizov drops Mats Zuccarello truth bomb after departure appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Minnesota Wild will look a little different this season, as one of their longtime players, Mats Zuccarello, left for the Los Angeles Kings in free agency on a one-year deal. It still may take some time for some to see Zuccarello in another jersey, one of them being his friend, Kirill Kaprizov.
That doesn’t mean he isn’t happy for his former teammate, and he noted as the team got back on the ice that he’ll be okay without him.
“It’s just part of the hockey,” Kaprizov said via Michael Russo of The Athletic. “It happens. Somebody signs. Somebody don’t sign and change teams. It’s a lot of business and a lot of times it happens. I just want to talk with him in the future and stay good friends, and just I hope he play good there and want to watch him this year.”
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On the ice, the pair seemed to work perfectly, as Zuccarello assisted on 102 of Kaprizov’s 249 combined regular-season and playoff goals. Off the ice, when Kaprizov came from Russia to the United States at a younger age, Zuccarello was there to be the brother that he needed.
“Yeah, Zuccy was one of biggest guys who helped me so much,” Kaprizov said. “It’s tough practices in the camp every year, especially us. We have so many battles and skating. With him, he just sometimes do some jokes or something, and you don’t think about you so tired and you just keep playing.”
Now, Kaprizov is looking to be that big brother to somebody on the team, but he also seems ready to take another step in his game. Though he’s coming off his fourth 40-goal season, the team wants more consistency from him on a nightly basis. There’s no doubt that he can do it, and with Zuccarello gone, it’s time to take over.
Related: Wild lock up John Hynes after 1st playoff win in 11 years
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