“There’s certain ways you do things and certain ways you don’t,” Guerin said. “We have protection. I’m not going to get into that but if that was the case, then we’ll handle it.”

In terms of Kaprizov’s status becoming a distraction, Guerin indicated he doesn’t see the team letting that happen, but the curiosity isn’t going away — especially if the season is in full swing and a deal still isn’t done, a dynamic that could force the Wild into considering a trade.

“We would love to have him here for as long as he wants,” captain Jared Spurgeon said.

Even if he wasn’t in a contract negotiation, Kaprizov’s return would be intriguing this season.

“You lose in the first round, it happen like mostly every year,” Kaprizov said. “It’s a little tough. But when you go in a new season, you always think, OK, it should be done, and we go next round. We just try to be focused and change some mistakes what we did before.”