Kirill Kaprizov’s goal a little over three minutes into the second period on Sunday proved enough for the Wild to secure their sixth win of the season. It was also his league-leading tenth goal of the season.
Just nine games into the season, Kaprizov is proving to be worth every bit of his eight-year $17 million AAV contract that kicked in this season. The 29-year-old has helped set the tone, bagging a trio of goals in the team’s first two games. He followed that up with an assist in the team’s next two games but has caught fire in the last five games.
THE THRILL HAS REACHED DOUBLE DIGITS!!! 😤
— NHL (@NHL) October 18, 2026
Kirill Kaprizov is the first player to hit 10 goals this season! pic.twitter.com/zGg3yuWlj6
Kaprizov registered his first hat trick of the season in a 4-1 win over the Panthers on Oct. 10, adding four more goals in the Wild’s next four games. In reaching the 10-goal mark on Sunday, Kaprizov became the first player in the league to net double-digit goals. It’s the first time in franchise history a Wild player was the first in the league to eclipse the 10-goal mark in a season.
Kaprizov’s 10 goals are two more than the next closest player in the NHL, Winnipeg’s Kyle Connor. Three players are tied for third-most goals scored with seven.
On his hot start, Kaprizov admitted after Sunday’s win over Columbus that he doesn’t try to think about his form, and that he’s just focused on playing.
“Just play games and feel good,” added Kaprizov.
The 10 goals through nine games are the most Kaprizov has scored through nine games of a season. His previous best start was the 2022-23 season, when he bagged six goals in the opening nine games.
Previous nine game starts for Kaprizov:
- 2020-21: 2 goals
- 2021-22: 1 goal
- 2022-23: 6 goals
- 2023-24: 2 goals
- 2024-25: 5 goals
- 2025-26: 5 goals
Minnesota went 3-1-0 last week, largely off the back of Kaprizov’s strong performances. He registered seven total points (four goals, three assists) in Minnesota’s wins over Vegas, St. Louis, and Columbus, as well as scoring the only two goals in the team’s 5-2 loss to Winnipeg.
Kaprizov’s seven-point week earned him the NHL’s Third Star of the Week award. It’s the seventh time in his career that Kaprizov has been named one of the league’s three stars of the week, having previously been named First Star five times and Second Star once.
The Wild star has now registered 15 points (10 goals, 5 assists) this season, which is the fifth-most in the league. Kaprizov and the Wild now prepare to take on the Edmonton Oilers and Connor McDavid, who leads the league with an astounding 23 points (6 goals, 17 assists) in just eight games.
“I feel like the first couple of games (are) just a little tough,” Kaprizov said when asked about the hot starts by star players this season. “(You) don’t feel like (you have your) power right away. But then after two, three, four games (you) feel better a little bit.”
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This story was originally published by Bring Me The Sports on Oct 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the MN Wild section. Add Bring Me The Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.