Minnesota Wild make Kirill Kaprizov an outrageous contract offer.

The Minnesota Wild really want to keep Kirill Kaprizov. How badly you might ask? Badly enough to offer him the richest contract in the history of the National Hockey League.

There's no question that Kaprizov is an incredibly important player to the Wild's franchise, both in terms of their on-ice success as well as when it comes to getting fans into the building each and every night. As one of the most dynamic players in the entire NHL, Kaprizov is a true superstar level talent the likes of which the Wild have never before had within their ranks.

It is perhaps for this reason that when Wild insider Michael Russo hinted at what Kaprizov's next contract will look like this week, he laid out a truly staggering number.

"I believe they've offered him a ton of money, even more than I thought" admitted Russo on the Worst Seats podcast. "I think that on an 8 year deal they are willing to pay him in the $16 [million] range."

That is a truly gigantic number, one that would be big enough to make Kaprizov's next contract the largest contract in the history of the NHL. The record is currently held by Alex Ovechkin who earned a whipping $124 million on a 13 year contract but, at $16 million per season in terms of average annual value on an 8 year deal, Kaprizov would surpass that with a contract worth a total of $128 million dollars.

Kaprizov is coming off of another incredible season in which he had 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points in just 41 games, and showcased that he can deliver in the playoffs as well. Kaprizov had 5 goals and 4 assists for 9 points despite appearing in just 6 playoff games this past season.

Some will no doubt argue that the number is too high, but the Wild clearly don't think so and Kaprizov may not either when you consider that there has been no official announcement regarding a contract signing just yet.

Are the Wild offering Kaprizov too much? Or is he worth every penny? Let me know what you think in the comments.