Wild teammates react to news that Kirill Kaprizov doesn't want to re-sign with the team

It's training camp season in the Twin Cities and... well... things are about to get a bit awkward.

Of course, all the news around the team these days has to do with superstar Kirill Kaprizov turning down a long-term, big money contract from the team last week. There are reports that Kaprizov isn't happy in Minnesota and would prefer to move on as a free agent next offseason.

With training camp opening up this week, Kaprizov's teammates are pouring into town and invariably they're being asked for their thoughts on the situation. Suffice it to say that they're just as nervous as Wild fans are themselves.

"He's a franchise player," alternate captain Marcus Foligno told The Athletic's Joe Smith. "He's so special, and those guys, you can't let go, right? It's going to take time. You look at a lot of the superstars in the league. It's going to take time. (There are) things they have to go back and forth with. We're positive that he'll be around, knowing he's just focused on the next game and how to win as a team this season."

Captain Jared Spurgeon put the pressure on GM Bill Guerin to get the job done.

"It's the business side of things," captain Jared Spurgeon said. "It's up to (Guerin) and him to go through that stuff. It doesn't affect us. Everyone goes through it in their career. And everyone has those years where you're coming into a contract negotiation. We’d love to have him here as long as he wants."

"As long as he wants..."

And that's the key right there, isn't it?

Read below for our earlier report on Kaprizov, published by Hockey Feed staff writer Jonathan Larrivee.

The Minnesota Wild may have a huge problem on their hands.

Just about everyone in the hockey community was left stunned last week when news broke that Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov had turned down a record setting contract in the salary cap era, an 8 year deal at an average annual value of $16 million per season which works out to a contract worth a staggering $128 million.

The news in and of itself would have been enough to set off alarm bells in Minnesota, but as it turns out the situation might be even worse that it initially appeared. On Monday, National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that Kaprizov was on the ice with his teammates at the very moment the news was breaking, something that created an extremely uncomfortable situation for the star forward.

"Kaprizov was on the ice at a captain skate when the news broke and it was kind of awkward," revealed Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "They go back into the room and they are all looking at their phones and this report comes out."

"I heard that Kaprizov was embarrassed about that," added Friedman.

Not only was it an awkward situation for Kaprizov and his teammates, it sounds like the player wasn't very happy about the news getting out in the manner that it had.

"Kaprizov is probably a little bit upset that this got out," confirmed the insider.

The news not only came as a shock to hockey fans but it sounds like it was equally shocking among NHL players around the league.

"Last week in Vegas you saw the reaction of the players when we were talking about this story, they were shocked that kind of offer got turned down," said Friedman.

This could spell trouble both on and off the ice for the Wild moving forward, with the last thing the Wild needed in these negotiations was an angry Kirill Kaprizov. Furthermore, Friedman believes that this is the kind of situation that could cause problems in the locker room moving forward.

"Imagine what's going on in the room," said Friedman.

What many were expecting to be a big moment for the Wild this summer may quickly be turning into a disaster in Minnesota.