‘Doing The Wrong Things For The Right Reasons’: Hynes Wants Smarter Decisions From Kaprizov

ST. PAUL, Minn - It is so easy to look at a boxscore stat like turnovers and make an assumption of a players game. Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov has 18 turnovers on the season through 11 games.

He has five turnovers in the last two games. Three of them led to direct goals and another one of them led to a penalty which resulted in a goal.

On Tuesday, Kaprizov turned the puck over one time but that turnover loomed large.

After a solid full 60 minutes from Kaprizov which included his sixth goal of the season, and first goal at 5-on-5 of the year, Kaprizov turned the puck over which gave the Jets possession of the puck.

Kyle Connor, a two-time 40-goal scorer and seven-time 30-goal scorer, made no mistake when Mark Scheifele passed it to him in the slot.

“I see a guy that’s highly competitive that wants to win, that wants to be a difference maker. I think there’s certain aspects of his game that I need to talk with him about. It’s not for a lack of effort or lack of care," Wild head coach John Hynes said about Kaprizov's turnovers. "I just think there’s times where you have to have some better decisions. But other than that, mostly with the team, it’s sometimes doing the wrong things for the right reasons, right? You want to make the difference. You want to make a play, but sometimes they’re not there. I think that’s a big part of it.”

On Sunday, Kaprizov had two turnovers that led to goals. On the Sharks second goal of the game, which gave them an early 2-0 lead, Kaprizov turned the puck over to the point for Timothy Liljegren.

Liljegren then walked into the zone and juked Kaprizov out of his socks and drove the net hard. The puck landed on the stick of Michael Misa and the young center got his first in the NHL.

"You know, if you're asking me specifically about Kirill, it’s the care of the guys you know is what you respect about them, but now it's we got to channel that care and that energy in the right directions and continue to move forward in a positive direction," Hynes said after Sunday's loss to the Sharks.

Well Kaprizov limited his turnovers on Tuesday but still his one proved costly.

It is one thing if you are constantly turning the puck over and not putting up points. Kaprizov has six goals and nine assists in 11 games and leads the Wild in points. He is in the top-five in the NHL in points.

Like Hynes said, it is not for a lack of care or effort. He has one goal and three assists in the last two games despite his five turnovers. But three of them have led directly to goals and four of them have resulted in goals.

“It’s hard. It sometimes happens," Kaprizov said. "We know, everyone, we should play better and it starts from us, from me especially, and from other guys, too, from whole team. We need to play better. Sometimes happens. We need to be more focused, play more like say I don’t know right way and enjoy the hockey. Now sometimes simple but big mistakes and we need to be better.”

The Wild need the soon to be highest paid player in the league to help the team win, not turn pucks over that result in goals and losses. But Hynes plans to address it. Again, it is not for a lack of effort or care.

Kaprizov is trying to make plays and be creative. But sometimes you need to simplify it and not force plays. We all know how pretty it looks when stuff like that clicks. But right now it isn't clicking and these turnovers have led to a 3-5-3 record in the first 11 games.