The Minnesota Wild have always been known more for their defensive abilities rather than their scoring abilities, but this year’s Wild team isn’t like most of their teams we’ve seen in the past.
One of the biggest reasons for their turnaround is rookie Kirill Kaprizov, who leads both the team and all rookies in goals and points. Sitting at 26 goals in 52 games and four games left on the schedule, the 24-year-old has a chance to join a list featuring mostly legends if he can manage to find the back of the net four more times before the season ends.
Kaprizov has averaged a goal per game since April 17 with 10 goals and 12 points in the 10-game span, and has chance to land somewhere on this list of rookies to hit the 30-goal mark in 56 games or less since the 1985-86 season.
The Wild have had 11 30-goal scorers in franchise history, but only five different players have hit the mark. If Kaprizov can accomplish the feat he’ll be just the sixth player in franchise history to score 30 goals or more in a season.
It’s too bad it’s a shortened season because Kaprizov would have gone well past the 30-goal mark and would have had a chance to hit 40, something that’s only been done twice in franchise history as both Eric Staal and Marian Gaborik share the record with 42 goals in a season.
The Wild selected Kaprizov with the 135th pick in the 5th round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and is already looking like one of the biggest steals in the draft through his first 52 games.
