Neal: Kirill Kaprizov is here to stay

Here’s the weekly 3-2 Pitch: Three observations and two predictions regarding the local sports scene.

One great thing about the National Hockey League: Camp opens. Preseason games start a handful of days after that. Then the opening faceoff is a couple of weeks away.

The Wild opened training camp on Sept. 18. They open the regular season on Thursday at St. Louis.

No grueling NFL training camp to endure. No lengthy spring training like baseball. Although I have to admit, I’ll take 47 days of spring training in Florida over any other preseason.

Still, the three-week runup for the start of the NHL season can’t come soon enough for Wild fans.

Especially after General Manager Bill Guerin executed a groundbreaking eight-year, $136 million contract extension with star forward Kirill Kaprizov. Guerin locked up the face of the franchise and brought relief to the State of Hockey.

Wild fans cheered Kaprizov on Tuesday during a preseason game against Winnipeg. And they will cheer with gusto on Oct. 11 when he takes the ice against Columbus at Xcel ... I mean ... Grand Casino Arena.

Suggestion: Make it permanent.

The city has a street behind CHS Field named Positively 4th Street for Bob Dylan. Dylan is a legend. He has a Nobel Prize for literature. He played hockey during his youth. The 84-year-old Dylan made a stunning appearance two weeks ago at U.S. Bank Stadium during Farm Aid. The enormity of his success cannot be overstated.

There is no Nobel Prize for hockey. There is a Stanley Cup.

Locking up Kaprizov for the next nine seasons gives the Wild a chance of winning one. That’s now a realistic goal, as the team has one of the top forwards in hockey under control for the long term.

Keeping Kaprizov legitimizes the Wild as a team with serious championship aspirations. It starts with them getting out of the first round of the playoffs, for goodness’ sake. But that’s a gripe for another time.

I don’t know if Kaprizov has ever picked up a musical instrument, but Wild fans are thanking the heavens he picked up a hockey stick. He’s one of the game’s elite scorers and was on a 50-goal pace before a lower body injury that limited him to 41 games last season. He has scored at least 46 goals twice in his five-year career.

Dylan is a legend. Kaprizov is on his way to being a legendary Wild player. So keep the street running along Xcel ... darn it ... Grand Casino Arena named 97th Street.

Positively 97th Street.

Of the teams currently seeking a new manager, the Twins have one of the least appealing situations.

The starting rotation is promising, as long as the team doesn’t trade Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan. There are plenty of capable candidates to fill out the rotation if those two return.

I rank the Giants, Braves, Orioles, Rangers and Nationals ahead of the Twins in terms of appeal. The two dozen or so managerial hopefuls likely feel the same way.

The challenge the Twins are facing during their search is that they have to sell their program as much as each candidate has to sell themselves to the club. Any candidate with even a little bit of a proven track record will look elsewhere.

I have been blessed to work with sharp, witty and good-natured people for most of my career. Phil Miller is at the top of the list. He reinforced my belief that you don’t have to be rude or use hidden agendas to get the best stories.

Miller also was the first Utah fan I’ve met. And he still is. The guy was born in Pekin, Ill. — just over 10 miles from Jim Thome’s hometown of Peoria. And he went to UTAH.

Miller is an elite storyteller. His humor is underrated. His passion for baseball is unmatched. He’s attended 38 World Series, a total of 118 games. That includes three in 1987 and four in 1991. That reveals a lot about someone who covered a Twins team that has spectacularly failed to return to one since then.

Cheers to you, Phil!

• The Wild will top 100 points this season and finish third in the Central Division. The penalty kill will improve, and Vladimir Tarasenko will score 21 goals.