The Minnesota Wild are making a hard charge at the franchise’s fourth straight playoff berth in 2023, thanks in large part to the exploits of forward Kirill Kaprizov.
The 25-year-old Russian has been a one-man scoring machine for Minnesota this season, with 34 goals in 60 games played, shouldering much of the load for the Wild on the ice.
As a result, the franchise is currently sitting in third place in the Central Division, with 72 points, behind the Dallas Stars (75 points) and Colorado Avalanche (73 points). With 22 games to play in the regular season, there’s no reason to believe that Kaprizov won’t top his career-high for goals in a season (47, set last year).
Given his on-ice contributions to the franchise, it’s no wonder that Kaprizov will likely be among the NHL’s most popular jerseys in 2023.
MinnesotaBets.com utilized Google Trends to look at the most searched NHL jerseys over the past season by utilizing the phrase “player name jersey” to predict who will be among the league's top 10 jersey sellers at the end of the season.
Remember, there is no legal Minnesota sports betting. But until then, stay close to this site for research items such as this.
Below is the projected top 10 in NHL jersey sales after the current season.
Why Kaprizov Could Be Among NHL’s Most Popular Jerseys In 2023
Kaprizov’s popularity in the Wild’s home state of Minnesota, as well as the volume of searches for him in neighboring Wisconsin, bodes well for his standing as a top-10 jersey among all NHL players in 2023. Between that search volume and Kaprizov’s on-ice exploits, it’s no wonder why the third year forward is a draw for fans of the Wild.
Add in that Kaprizov was picked by Minnesota in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Draft and you have a homemade star in the making, which is always a hit with the peanut gallery.
If Kaprizov can lift the Wild past the Western Conference Finals and deliver the franchise its first Stanley Cup championship in 2023, then the sky will be the limit for a budding tour de force in the league.
Between now and then, Kaprizov and the Wild will look to gain ground on Dallas and Colorado. The Wild will also be out to do better than last season's first-round playoff loss to the St. Louis Blues.
For now, the young Russian forward can rest easy knowing that Wild fans have his back.
