The Minnesota Wild handed out the largest contract in NHL history on Tuesday to star winger Kirill Kaprizov, as the 28-year-old will earn $136 million on an eight-year term through the 2033-34 season.

It’s a deal worth more in total money that the one Alex Ovechkin signed with the Washington Capitals ($124 million) in 2008, and carries a higher average annual value (AAV) than the one signed by Leon Draisaitl with the Edmonton Oilers ($14 million) last September.

It’s a contract that has sent shockwaves through the NHL. Some will benefit from its repercussions. Some will not. Here are the winners and losers of the Kaprizov contract, as we see them:

Winner: Bill Guerin

It was Guerin that finally got Kaprizov to leave the KHL for the NHL in 2021, succeeding where two previous Wild GMs had failed. Now he’s the guy that’s helped convinced Kaprizov to stay in Minnesota.

Guerin faced some enormous challenges in getting this done. One of them was the lure of unrestricted free agency under a rising salary cap, as Kaprizov wouldn’t have suffered from a lack of suitors. Some of those suitors might have been more appealing than the Wild: As one NHL agent told ESPN, the Wild’s status as a mid-tier Stanley Cup contender and Minnesota not being “a destination” for stars worked against them. Kaprizov had the hammer in negotiations, as was evidenced by the windfall he eventually received.

But Guerin also had some advantages here. His team could give Kaprizov the eighth contract year that the player reportedly wanted out of his next deal. He also had the financial backing of ownership to offer the richest contract in NHL history — $128 million earlier in September — and then increase that offer when Kaprizov didn’t sign.

Guerin also benefitted from having Kaprizov’s contract come up before a major change in the CBA rules. His contract pays out $128 million of his money in annual signing bonuses. That’s 94% of its value. Starting in Sept. 2026, contracts will only be able to offer signing bonuses worth 60% of the “aggregate compensation payable under the contract.”

Guerin landed the plane at time when many felt Kaprizov’s initial rejection of a record contract was his rejection of the franchise. Whether you agree with the compensation or not, give credit where it’s due: He got it done.

Loser: Kevin Cheveldayoff

Since 2021-22, Kyle Connor has scored just five fewer goals (153) than Kaprizov (158), having played 44 more games than the Minnesota winger. That’s on a 14.2% shooting percentage. Simply put, the 28-year-old Jet winger is as elite a goal-scorer as you’ll find on the wing — and as an unrestricted free agent next summer, should be compensated as such.

The question is whether that’ll happen in Winnipeg, where he’s entering his 10th season, or elsewhere.

If Connor was waiting for a salary domino to fall, this one landed with a sonic boom. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff just watched Kaprizov reset the market for a player that scored 41 goals and had 56 assists for a career best 97 points in 82 games.

Cheveldayoff has done a masterful job retaining other stars like goalie Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele, both at $8.5 million AAV over seven seasons. Market conditions were more favorable to the Jets when they re-upped in 2023. They aren’t now, thanks in part to Kaprizov.

The conundrum for Cheveldayoff and the Jets: Is Connor worth that money?

“He scores goals, but gives a lot back,” one NHL executive said.

Winner: Paul Theofanous

Wild owner Craig Leipold told The Athletic on Tuesday that the team was still convinced Kaprizov wanted to re-sign even after he didn’t agree to an eight-year, $128 million contract extension offer on Sept. 9.

“He never raised the money issue. That was always the agent,” Leipold said. “So, I mean, I think we always thought that we’re going to get this thing done, and we thought, at least in the last week or so, 17 was the number.”

Theofanous, Kaprizov’s agent, is a legendarily tough negotiator. He not only managed to get another $8 million added to an offer that would have already set a new NHL contract value record, but he negotiated a contract structure that pays Kaprizov $128 million in “buyout-proof” bonus money. Theofanous dug his heels in and won huge, despite the Wild’s belief that Kaprizov wouldn’t take this to free agency.

Loser: Player movement

The era of player retention continues.

The upper limit of the NHL salary cap this season is $95.5 million. It’s been estimated that the ceiling will be at least $104 million in 2026-27, the first time the NHL’s salary cap will have crested over the century mark. Some predicted this inflation would lead to a spike in player movement, as teams had more to spend on acquiring talent.

On the contrary, the rising cap has seen teams retain their players throughout the offseason, no longer sweating out the pressure points that the cap created. Kaprizov is the latest name to stay where his stuff is, and he’s likely not the last.

Winner: Getting locked in early

Hart Levine of the salary cap site Puck Pedia believes that hockey fans just have to accept that this is the new normal under the salary cap.

“It’s a big number, but we just have to get used to living in a world where the cap is going up each year. It’s going up 9% from this year to next year,” he told me.

It’s all about context. Heck, even Kaprizov’s deal might look like a bargain in the next few seasons.

Take Draisaitl’s contract that he signed last September. Levine says that under next year’s salary cap, Draisaitl’s contract would have been worth $15.25 million against the cap. Conversely, if you took Kaprizov’s contract and put into current cap dollars, the AAV would be around $15.6 million.

One NHL executive likened the rise in the salary cap to a “tidal wave” that’ll just keep adding more and more large contracts as it grows. Which means the key for teams is locking players in before that wave crests.

When discussing good cap management with some NHL sources, one team that came up multiple times was the Carolina Hurricanes.

Their front office, now led by GM Eric Tulsky, has locked up several players to long-term deals ahead of the dramatic salary cap increase: Forwards Sebastian Aho ($9.75 million through 2031-32), Seth Jarvis ($7,420,087 through 2031-32) and Logan Stankoven ($6 million through 2033-34), as well as newly acquired defenseman K’Andre Miller ($7.5 million through 2032-33) and forward Nikolaj Ehlers ($8.5 million through 2030-31).

The Canes have their core locked up long-term at a reasonable rate, and the flexibility to still go after big players via trades as they’ve done the last two seasons with Jake Guentzel and Mikko Rantanen.

Speaking of which …

Losers: Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen

Kaprizov’s contract will no doubt continue the dialogue about NHL cities with high income taxes and NHL cities that don’t have income taxes, a.k.a. the teams that happen to be winning Stanley Cups with some frequency lately.

According to an analysis by the Tax Foundation, Minnesota has the fifth-highest top income tax rate in the U.S., at 9.85%. There’s no question that’s a factor in Kaprizov getting $136 million over eight seasons, because he wouldn’t have gotten that same number in a no-tax state. Jeff Marek of Daily Faceoff spoke with one player agent who said Kaprizov’s average annual value in a place like Florida would have been around $14 million.

If that’s the case, then Kaprizov still would have made more annually than Mitch Marner of the Vegas Golden Knights and Mikko Rantanen of the Dallas Stars, who both signed mega-contracts in the last year worth $12 million against the cap through 2032-33.

Marner’s points-per-game average of the last three seasons was equal to Kaprizov’s (1.24) while Rantanen’s was right behind them (1.22). If either of them had the power of clairvoyance and could see what Kaprizov just earned, what would those contracts have looked like?

Winner: Kirill Kaprizov

We must obviously shout out the man himself, who set a new standard for NHL contracts in both overall value and average annual value. From a production standpoint, he’s among the best offensive hockey players in the world: He plays to a 50-goal pace, is a dynamic playmaker and shown to be a more committed defensive player than one might assume given his gaudy stats.

But there’s one number that’s never added up for Kaprizov, and that’s games played. The winger has played over 80 games once in his NHL career, back in 2021-22 when finished seventh in the MVP voting. Last season saw him limited to 41 games. He’s 28 years old, turning 29 next April.

Again, it’s a credit to Kaprizov that he has still managed to post astounding numbers despite those injuries. But for this level of investment, the Wild need him on the ice and not in the press box. Minnesota was 63-41-12 with Kaprizov in the lineup over the last two seasons and 21-23-4 without him. He’s a difference-maker.

The most complicated contract decision in the NHL just got a little more complicated.

McDavid is entering the final year of his contract with the Oilers. As we’ve written previously, everything is on the table for his future — from taking a shorter-term deal to remain in Edmonton to leaving for what would unquestionably become the richest free-agent contract the NHL has ever seen.

The latest speculation around the league: If McDavid does decide to remain with the Oilers beyond this season, it wouldn’t be for a max contract, with the idea being that McDavid would want fair compensation while giving Edmonton GM Stan Bowman flexibility to improve the team in pursuit of McDavid’s elusive Stanley Cup ring.

Yet there are also those who believe that McDavid should secure the bag even if he stays in Edmonton — after all, why should he pay for the team’s cap-management missteps?

McDavid is the best hockey player in the world. Whatever he wants on a new contract in Edmonton, they’re going to give him. It’s the “whatever he wants” that’s now a thornier issue, as the bar has been raised from Draisaitl’s $14 million to Kaprizov’s $17 million. Will McDavid choose to reset that bar whenever — or wherever — he signs his new deal?

Sir Keir Starmer has said he will take “no more lectures” from Nigel Farage, as he warned that the next four years will be “a fight for the soul of our country” against Reform UK.

In a speech setting out his vision of “national renewal” for Britain, the prime minister hit out at “snake oil merchants on the right, on the left”, and questioned whether Mr Farage and his party “genuinely love our country”.

Sir Keir also asked for “patience” as he implements the “change” he has promised, which comes after a challenging first 14 months in power, with Reform UK continuing to top the opinion polls, and dissent within his own party in the form of a series of interviews by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham criticising the direction of the government.

In an hour-long speech at the Labour Party conference, the prime minister declared that the UK is at “a fork in the road”, saying: “We can choose decency, or we can choose division; renewal or decline; a country proud of its values, in control of its future, or one that succumbs against the grain of our history to the politics of grievance. It is a test, a fight for the soul of our country.”

Sir Keir argued the “path of renewal” he wants to set the country on is “long”, and “requires decisions that are not cost-free or easy, decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party”. But the reward, he said, is “a new country, a fairer country, a land of dignity and respect”.

Analysis: Speech a success for PM – but biggest issue in UK politics ignored

He hit out at politicians who “tell you there’s a quick fix, a miracle cure, tax cuts that magically pay for themselves, a wealth tax that somehow solves every problem”.

“We can all see these snake oil merchants on the right, on the left, but be in no doubt, none of them have any interest in national renewal because decline is good for their business,” the prime minister said.

Starmer calls on party to ‘fight Reform’

In a lengthy attack directly on Reform UK, Sir Keir said: “Think about it, when was the last time that you heard Nigel Farage say anything positive about Britain’s future? He can’t. He doesn’t like Britain, doesn’t believe in Britain, wants you to doubt it just as much as he does. So he resorts to grievance.”

He continued: “The question I ask seriously of Nigel Farage and Reform is, do they love our country? Do they want to serve our country? All of it – our beautiful, tolerant, diverse country, every region, nation and city? Or do they just want to stir the pot of division?”

He issued a rallying cry to the Labour Party to “fight Reform with everything that this movement has”.

He went on: “If you are a patriot, whether you vote Labour or not, if you want to stand against grievance and renew Britain, then this is your fight too. Because even in a world this dangerous, I do think the politics of grievance is the biggest threat we face because it attacks who we are.”

The prime minister added that he will “fight with every breath I have, fight for working people, fight for the tolerant, decent, respectful Britain that I know”.

Starmer is ‘unfit to be PM’

In response, Mr Farage said in a video message online: “I used to think the prime minister was a decent man, somebody that I could talk to and chat to. We might disagree on worldview, but I thought he was a profoundly decent human being.

“I am completely shocked at his behaviour. I hope when he wakes up tomorrow morning, he feels ashamed of what he has done.

“This is a desperate last throw of the dice for the prime minister, who’s in deep trouble. A prime minister who can’t even command the support of half of his own party. But I’m sorry to say, I now believe he is unfit to be the prime minister of our country.”

The Conservative Party barely got a mention in the hour-long speech, underscoring where Sir Keir believes the battle lines will be drawn at the next general election, expected in 2029.

But speaking to broadcasters afterwards, party leader Kemi Badenoch said: “I just thought it was really extraordinary that Keir Starmer could not explain how he was going to improve the economy.”

She described the fight between Sir Keir and Mr Farage as “two boys squabbling in the playground”, and said she wants to focus on how “the people in government can make life better”.

Read more:
Farage on course to be next PM, mega poll projects
Almost two in three Labour members back Burnham over Starmer
Streeting says Labour ‘need Angela Rayner back’

PM sets out the ‘purpose’ of his government

As he declared Reform UK “the enemy of national renewal”, Sir Keir set out his vision of the future of the country, saying: “At the end of this hard road, there will be a new country, a fairer country, a land of dignity and respect. Everyone seen. Everyone valued.

“Wealth creation in every single community. Working people in control of their public services. The mindless bureaucracy that chokes enterprise removed, so we can build and keep building. Clean British energy powering our homes. Technology harnessed to drive us forward. Our flags flying proudly as we celebrate difference and oppose racism.”

He acknowledged that the public is “losing faith”, and people are feeling “ground down”, saying: “Politics has made them question Britain. And could you blame them? They’ve been nothing but patient.”

The prime minister said Britain is not “broken” – something he has previously argued himself – but said that his solution to the problems Britain faces is an economy working “from the grassroots”, secure borders and controlled migration, and public and private investment in everything from education to infrastructure.

“Every decision” the government has made in the past 14 months has been about “changing the way we create wealth, reforming public services, giving people more control over our future”, he argued.

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The prime minister announced “NHS Online”, which will allow patients to access prescriptions, book scans and tests, receive clinical advice, and manage appointments through the NHS app.

And he also announced he is scrapping the Blair-era target of 50% of all young people going to university, in favour of two-thirds going to either universities or “gold-standard apprenticeships”.

Concluding his speech, the prime minister said: “People say that a nation like ours can’t be a community – that it is too diverse, too divided. I reject that. That goes against everything I stand for, everything I’ve served, everything I understand about this great country that I love.

“So no matter how many times people tell me it can’t be done, I believe Britain can come together, that we can pursue a shared destination, that we can unite around the common good. That is my ambition.

“The purpose of this government – end decline, reform our public services, grow our economy from the grassroots and with resolve, with respect, with a flag in our hands, we will renew this country until we can say with total conviction that Britain is built for all.”

Donald Trump has said Hamas has “three or four days” to respond to his Gaza peace plan – with Qatar, Egypt and Turkey reportedly urging the group to accept.

The US president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled the 20-point proposal at the White House on Monday.

Hamas has said it needs time to look at the details and consult with other Palestinian factions.

Israel has agreed to the terms, which include an immediate ceasefire; the release of all hostages; Hamas disarming; a guarantee no one will be forced to leave Gaza; and a governing “peace panel” including Sir Tony Blair.

Key mediators such as Qatar and Egypt have urged Hamas – who murdered more than 1,200 Israelis two years ago – to accept the deal, reported Axios.

Other influential Muslim nations such as Jordan, the UAE, Indonesia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have also publicly backed it.

Speaking outside the White House on Tuesday, Mr Trump said they were “just waiting for Hamas” and it would be a “very sad end” if the deal was rejected.

One Hamas leader, Mahmoud Mardawi, was quoted in Middle Eastern outlets as saying the group will not agree a deal that does not include “self-determination for the Palestinian people”.

Mr Netanyahu has warned he will “finish the job” if Hamas refuses, while Mr Trump said he would “let Israel go and do what they have to do”.

However, the plan is seen as heavily favouring Israel and makes no commitment towards a two-state solution – something the Israeli leader has vowed will never happen.

Other details, such as the inclusion of former UK prime minister Sir Tony, have also been criticised due to his pivotal role in the invasion of Iraq.

Human rights activist Ashish Prashar – who said he worked with Sir Tony when he was a Middle East envoy – told Sky News’ The World programme it was “like putting the arsonist in charge of rebuilding the house he put on fire” and “there is no way Palestinians trust him”.

However, President Trump called Sir Tony a “good man” – and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper told Sky’s Sophy Ridge that Sir Tony had a “record on a lot of international things”.

Other members of the planned governing board are set to be announced in the coming days.

More than 66,000 people in Gaza have now been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

The total does not differentiate between the number of fighters and civilians but the ministry has said about half are women and children.

At least another 31 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Tuesday, local hospitals said.

Seventeen of them died in Netzarim, an Israeli-controlled corridor, while trying to get humanitarian aid. Another 33 were reportedly wounded in the incident, said al Awda hospital.

Israeli strikes which hit tents in the region of Muwasi, previously deemed a safe zone, are said to have killed 10 people.

Al Aqsa hospital said seven of the victims died near Deir al Balah after earlier this month fleeing Gaza City, where Israel has launched a renewed offensive.

The three others killed were from the same family; a man, his pregnant wife and their child. They were killed when an airstrike hit their tent west of Khan Younis, according to Nasser Hospital.

Read more:
Praise and fury for deal – but Hamas’s first reaction is telling
What we know about Gaza peace plan

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the reports, but said it had struck more than 160 targets of Hamas infrastructure in the past 24 hours.

It has repeatedly stressed it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties but that Hamas deliberately embeds itself among the civilian population.

Hamas is still believed to be holding 48 of the 251 hostages kidnapped during the 7 October attack, 20 of whom are believed to be alive.