Kirill Kaprizov sidelined after turning down monster contract.

The already interesting situation surrounding Minnesota Wild star forward Kirill Kaprizov has just had a new wrinkle added to it.

As all of you reading this will likely already know, Kaprizov made headlines earlier this month when he reportedly declined a monster contract from the Wild. The deal, reportedly an 8 year deal an average annual value of $16 million per season, would have earned him the richest contract in the entire National Hockey League but despite that he opted to decline the offer.

It was a risky move from the often injured Kaprizov and it seems he has already hit his first bump in the road when it comes to being sidelined this season.

On Saturday, Minnesota Wild insider Mike Russo revealed that Kaprizov had been sidelined due to an infection in his eye. There was no timeline for when Kaprizov might be back with his team, however Russo was able to confirm that Kaprizov is currently on antibiotics and head coach John Hynes stated that he hopes Kaprizov will be back in relatively short order.

While an eye infection is unlikely to impact the contract negotiations, one way or the other, it is a reminder of the kind of risk players are taking when they reject contract offers. Every day Kaprizov is on the ice is another risk of a potential injury that could seriously damage his earning potential moving forward.

What will be interesting to see is if this reminder of how quickly things can turn bad will have any impact on how Kaprizov feels about the Wild's contract offers moving forward.

In spite of being limited to just 41 games last season, Kaprizov put up a ridiculous 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points over that stretch.