Update - Kirill Kaprisov has not left the country and remains at home

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Sam Hutch
July 7, 2022 (9:34)

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The Minnesota Wild are dealing with a situation involving star forward, Kirill Kaprizov. The Wild forward is wanted on suspicion of buying falsified military documents in 2017 when he was playing for a KHL hockey club. This comes a short time after Philadelphia Flyers prospect, Ivan Fedotov was taken into military custody and forced into military service...under questionable circumstances.

The Minnesota Wild are monitoring the situation closely and general manager Bill Guerin had this to say according to The Athletic:

We're trying to find out as much as we can, but we're not worried too much about it,» Guerin said. «I've talked to (Kaprizov's agent) Paul (Theofanous). We're not going to push the panic button or anything like that. We're just trying to gather information right now and find out if this is even credible.

Kaprizov's father has said that his son did not buy fake military ID's and instead has been studying at the Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, which is common for athletes playing professional sports overseas. This is viewed as a way of delaying obligatory military service.

There is speculation that Kaprizov isn't in any danger although he remains at home.

«If it's coming from the President, and he says Kirill's not going anywhere, then he's not going anywhere,» the source said. «Unless it's coming from that one person, everybody else is going to be OK. Only one person can make him stay, not nobody else.

Bill Guerin tried to reason with Kaprizov about a month and a half ago not to return home because he was afraid something like this may be the result. it also appears there has been a directive from inside the National Hockey League that strongly advises Russian athletes from returning home this off-season.

Let's just hope for his sake, Kaprizov can find a way to make it back stateside safe and sound. As for right now, the cause for concern appears to be mild, which may be optimistic, but is a good sign.

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