Fiala traded

[Brewin Flames]

Michael Russo

 

@RussoHockey

 

According to sources, the #mnwild have traded the rights to pending restricted free agent Kevin Fiala to the #lakings for their 2022 first-round pick and University of Minnesota captain Brock Faber

[Brewin Flames]

Report: Kings acquire rights to Fiala from Wild

Kevin Fiala is on his way to California. The Los Angeles Kings acquired the rights to the 25-year-old restricted free-agent winger from the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday in exchange for the No. 19 pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and defenceman Brock Faber of nearby Maple Grove, MN, reports The Athletic's Michael Russo.

TSN.ca Staff

 

Kevin Fiala , The Canadian Press

Kevin Fiala is on his way to California.

The Los Angeles Kings acquired the rights to the 25-year-old restricted free-agent winger from the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday in exchange for the No. 19 pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and defenceman Brock Faber of nearby Maple Grove, MN, reports The Athletic's Michael Russo.

TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston notes the Kings are expected to sign Fiala to a long-term extension.

Fiala had a career year this past offseason, scoring 33 goals and adding 52 assists. He played last season on a one-year, $5.1 million deal.

A native of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Fiala is headed into his ninth NHL season.

Originally taken with the 11th overall pick of the 2014 draft by the Nashville Predators, Fiala was traded to the Wild at the 2019 deadline in exchange for Mikael Granlund.

In 419 career games, Fiala has 124 goals and 159 assists.

Internationally, Fiala has represented Switzerland on multiple occasions at various levels, including four IIHF World Championships and two IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

Faber, 19, was a second-round pick of the Kings in 2020 and served as captain of the University of Minnesota last season in his sophomore year.

Faber was part of the United States' gold medal-winning entry at the 2021 WJHC in Edmonton and Red Deer. He also represented the US at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

[TallyTigerShark]

I would have liked to have acquired a higher pick than 19 but I guess that might have been the best deal available. I like the acquisition of Faber. He’s a right hand shot D-man whom many predict as a top 4 guy.

 

Wonder if the Wild stick at 19 and 24 or package the two picks to try and move up??

Edited June 29, 2022 by TallyTigerShark

[yave1964]

So the get is a good prospect in Faber who is probably the 8th or 9th best prospect from the Kings. 19th pick, three, four years might or might not be something. Love it for the Kings, absolutely hate it for the Wild, it is the type of move that makes sense for a team entering a rebuild but not for a team that is trying to contend. The Kings IMHO just passed the Wild in the West. 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 minutes ago, TallyTigerShark said:

I would have liked to have acquired a higher pick than 19 but I guess that might have been the best deal available. I like the acquisition of Faber. He’s a right hand shot D-man whom many predict as a top 4 guy.

 

Wonder if the Wild stick at 19 and 24 or package the two picks to try and move up??

 

I would think IF the Wild had the opportunity to package both the 19th and 24th picks for a player, say, in the top 10, they SHOULD do it!
19th is about where Minnesota has been picking for years with minimal success. Maybe a top 10 pick is what they need to get that better quality of player they've not had the opportunity to draft in recent seasons.

Question then becomes, "Is there someone out there willing to give up their top 10 pick for a 19th and 24th?"

[yave1964]

3 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

I would think IF the Wild had the opportunity to package both the 19th and 24th picks for a player, say, in the top 10, they SHOULD do it!
19th is about where Minnesota has been picking for years with minimal success. Maybe a top 10 pick is what they need to get that better quality of player they've not had the opportunity to draft in recent seasons.

Question then becomes, "Is there someone out there willing to give up their top 10 pick for a 19th and 24th?"

19 and 24 to the Wings for number 8? It makes sense for the Wings who need multiple prospects as they continue to restock the talent pool. Yzerman might just pull the trigger on that type of deal.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

7 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

19 and 24 to the Wings for number 8? It makes sense for the Wings who need multiple prospects as they continue to restock the talent pool. Yzerman might just pull the trigger on that type of deal.

 

Yep, something of that nature.

Not sure how others would feel about it, but the Wild are entering their cap dark age and could use all the young, cheap, talented players they can get, and while 2 is more than one, if the Wild can make that 8th overall count, for instance, they could end up with the type of player who WON'T require a ton of time in the AHL to "get it" or "work on things" as they have with many of their other picks.
 

[Math]

Apparently it will be a 7-year $8M AAV deal according to some swiss media. Which is quite expensive IMO.

[OccamsRazor]

1 hour ago, yave1964 said:

So the get is a good prospect in Faber who is probably the 8th or 9th best prospect from the Kings. 19th pick, three, four years might or might not be something. Love it for the Kings, absolutely hate it for the Wild, it is the type of move that makes sense for a team entering a rebuild but not for a team that is trying to contend. The Kings IMHO just passed the Wild in the West. 

 

Crazy bad over pay by the Kings for a guy who would have been a UFA.

 

Unreal.

[Math]

The Suter and Parisé buyouts are hitting hard but as I have read somewhere, the Wild's persepctive here is "3 years with $14M in dead cap space is totally worth it to allow us getting rid of these two motherf****"

 

I think we can't still not imagine at which point Suter and Parisé were liabilities in this team and force the FO to opt for such a drastic measure.

[IllaZilla]

2 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

Crazy bad over pay by the Kings for a guy who would have been a UFA.

 

Unreal.

 

I don't know. The Kings get an NHL 30 goal scorer and the Wild get a late first round pick, a 2nd round defensive prospect, and most importantly, cap space.

 

I think the Kings got the better deal. Fiala has shown he can score in the NHL. The Wild got an unknown, a top four defensive prospect, and some wiggle room. A bird in the hand...

[ruxpin]

53 minutes ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I don't know. The Kings get an NHL 30 goal scorer and the Wild get a late first round pick, a 2nd round defensive prospect, and most importantly, cap space.

 

I think the Kings got the better deal. Fiala has shown he can score in the NHL. The Wild got an unknown, a top four defensive prospect, and some wiggle room. A bird in the hand...

That's sc pretty sober, even-handed assessment. For better or worse

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

While I believe Minnesota did "ok" in trading a player they weren't going to be able to keep (unofficially, it is 7 years at 7.9M AAV), I have to wonder what about that oft rumored "Fiala to NJ" where the Devils were supposed to package THEIR first rounder and maybe one of their pretty good forward prospects.

Did that deal never materialize? Did the Devils back out? Or perhaps that never really was on the table?

I suppose from the NJ side of things, they DO have quite a bit of offensive talent already, where Fiala would have been deemed redundant, but from the Minnesota POV, seems just a bit disappointing that the best they got, with regards to picks, was a 19th overall (no disrespect to Brock at the U of M, but we don't know what he'll be exactly).

That said, if Bill Guerin can somehow package that 19th and their own first rounder for an even better pick, like what was hinted at earlier in this thread, then the deal looks much better for the Wild.

[TallyTigerShark]

I think the chances of NJ dealing their first round pick disappeared when they ended up with the second pick overall via the lottery.

 

Eager to see what the Wild do now. Given the sheer numbers of young defensemen we have in the system now, I’d love to trade up and try to grab a center, potentially an impact center, in the draft. I’d trade the 19, 24 and the 56 if it would get me in the 6-10 range. One or more of Gautier, Geekie and Kasper would be sitting there for the taking. And though he projects as a winger, Kemell would be a nice pick as well.

[J0e Th0rnton]

15 hours ago, yave1964 said:

So the get is a good prospect in Faber who is probably the 8th or 9th best prospect from the Kings. 19th pick, three, four years might or might not be something. Love it for the Kings, absolutely hate it for the Wild, it is the type of move that makes sense for a team entering a rebuild but not for a team that is trying to contend. The Kings IMHO just passed the Wild in the West. 

Ehhhhhh, I dunno if the kings have passed the Wild Yave. Kaprisov is one of the top 5 players in the league and Boldy and Rossi are elite prospects. Gaudreau and Hartman really shined this year and Eriksson Ek and greenway are both solid middle 6 guys who can pitch in top line duties.

 

The kings top 3 Forwards are kopitar, Kempe and Danault. Byfield looks like he could be a gem someday, but he still only has 10 points in 40 this year. until he steps up, he is unknown.

 

as far as their defense goes, I liked what i saw from Sean Durzi and Jordan Spence....but its still pretty thin. Doughty is their big gun and on LTIR

[CreaseAndAssist]

I'm 100% fine with this trade.  We had to deal Fiala; there was no way around it.  The player and the team had probably known it was inevitable even before last season began.  The $$$ just wasn't going to be there, and the rest of the league knew it.  To get a 1st, albeit a mid-round pick and a decent prospect in Brock Faber is about as good as we could expect IMO.  

 

Faber is a terrific defenseman.  We've already seen that in his time with the Gophers.  I am not a 'one of us' kind of fan, and he's a solid NHL defenseman prospect.  Big, mobile...physical.  I am not sure he has a lot of offensive potential, but he gives the team something it always lacked (because of how it drafts at this position) size, mobility and physicality on the blueline.  Getting him signed will be the challenge as he can invoke the college loophole; but my guess is they will sell him on the opportunity he'd likely have on the Wild blueline.  

 

He's going to be with the Golden Gophers next season for his junior year.  He's looked great in international play like at the WJC's.  #18 gives us a better chance to get a center or a decent winger which is where I'd guess the Wild will be targeting with their two 1st round picks.  

[CreaseAndAssist]

11 hours ago, IllaZilla said:

 

I don't know. The Kings get an NHL 30 goal scorer and the Wild get a late first round pick, a 2nd round defensive prospect, and most importantly, cap space.

 

I think the Kings got the better deal. Fiala has shown he can score in the NHL. The Wild got an unknown, a top four defensive prospect, and some wiggle room. A bird in the hand...

 

(shrugs)  IMO unless a team was going to give us some prospect stud forward I think we were likely going to lose that offense anyways from Fiala's departure.  

 

I don't think it was that bad of a return when everyone knew you had to sell.  Its not a Minnesota Twins deal where we got two blah AA prospects for our best player.  

[TonyOday]

Yeah we got one B level prospect, a lower first in a bad draft for the second best player on the team, it is VERY close to a Twins deal. 

 

On the flip side we basically traded Granny for a couple years of Fiala and a B prospect and a pick. 

[CreaseAndAssist]

I think Faber will be a decent NHL defenseman.  I don't think this is a bad draft.  It doesn't have a generational talent, but there should be lots of quality in the 1st two rounds.  I saw other 'stronger' drafts where the players sounded more iffy in their skillsets than what I'm seeing in this class.  

[yave1964]

4 hours ago, J0e Th0rnton said:

Ehhhhhh, I dunno if the kings have passed the Wild Yave. Kaprisov is one of the top 5 players in the league and Boldy and Rossi are elite prospects. Gaudreau and Hartman really shined this year and Eriksson Ek and greenway are both solid middle 6 guys who can pitch in top line duties.

 

The kings top 3 Forwards are kopitar, Kempe and Danault. Byfield looks like he could be a gem someday, but he still only has 10 points in 40 this year. until he steps up, he is unknown.

 

as far as their defense goes, I liked what i saw from Sean Durzi and Jordan Spence....but its still pretty thin. Doughty is their big gun and on LTIR

I have been singing the Kings praises  for several years and believe they are a team that is rebuilt and ready to contend. Yes their defense is a huge concern, I put that in the teams end of year review and they need to add a puck mover in free agency BUT

 

They made the postseason and gave Mcdavid and the Oil all that they could handle before bowing out in 7 games

 

The Wild are the first team in NHL history whose top ten scorers ALL set career highs. What goes up comes down, it is a fact. Probably half will have worse seasons next year and nobody yet knows who is in net.,

The Wild have Boldy who is established. Byfield will establish himself this year I believe with  20 goal, 50 point incredible two way pivot. 

 

I am not saying the Wild are on their way to the bottom of the division, just saying that they have likely plateaued, and the Kings are on their way up. and the Kings are still pushing forwards through the pipeline. 

 

I believe WITH Fiala the Wild likely were still a small step ahead of the Kings. With him on the Kings roster I reverse that and give a slight edge to the Kings.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

4 hours ago, CreaseAndAssist said:

I'm 100% fine with this trade.  We had to deal Fiala; there was no way around it.  The player and the team had probably known it was inevitable even before last season began.  The $$$ just wasn't going to be there, and the rest of the league knew it.  To get a 1st, albeit a mid-round pick and a decent prospect in Brock Faber is about as good as we could expect IMO.  

 

Faber is a terrific defenseman.  We've already seen that in his time with the Gophers.  I am not a 'one of us' kind of fan, and he's a solid NHL defenseman prospect.  Big, mobile...physical.  I am not sure he has a lot of offensive potential, but he gives the team something it always lacked (because of how it drafts at this position) size, mobility and physicality on the blueline.  Getting him signed will be the challenge as he can invoke the college loophole; but my guess is they will sell him on the opportunity he'd likely have on the Wild blueline.  

 

He's going to be with the Golden Gophers next season for his junior year.  He's looked great in international play like at the WJC's.  #18 gives us a better chance to get a center or a decent winger which is where I'd guess the Wild will be targeting with their two 1st round picks.  

 

Very informative here. Thank you.
I honestly knew ZERO about this particular prospect other than what I saw on a stat sheet.

Some of what you said, I surmised (the lesser offense, but likely good player at his position), but the rest was interesting to read about here.
And being from Maple Grove absolutely has nothing to do with anything, so agree there as well....... guy could be from Truth or Consequences, NM, and if he could play better than a guy from Edina, I'd take him. 

[Icechipper]

How the hell has Fiala already played 9 years in the show?

 

And Detroit would be foolish to give up an 8th for two late round shots in the dark. 

[CreaseAndAssist]

7 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Very informative here. Thank you.
I honestly knew ZERO about this particular prospect other than what I saw on a stat sheet.

Some of what you said, I surmised (the lesser offense, but likely good player at his position), but the rest was interesting to read about here.
And being from Maple Grove absolutely has nothing to do with anything, so agree there as well....... guy could be from Truth or Consequences, NM, and if he could play better than a guy from Edina, I'd take him. 

 

If he was from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico it'd be a more intriguing story because it would be rather unusual.  I don't think he's going to be a big offensive producer at the NHL level, but I think he could be a Ryan Lindgren-type.  Mobile, terrific defender and doesn't mind being physical.  He's a right-shot.  

 

IMO, the question is whether acquiring Brock Faber will prompt the team to part ways with some of its other defenseman in its system.  Calen Addison in particular seems to be the strange odd man out.  He looked good in his limited time with the Wild; he certainly has offensive ability but he's smaller.  

 

Having 5 defenseman; 3 of which with NMC's and two with modified no trade clauses is problematic.  The Wild are deep with defensive prospects but they all are about the same size.  That to me is an issue.  

 

This will put more pressure on the Wild to make the most of the 19th Overall pick.  Because the Wild lost a lot of skill and scoring with Fiala's departure whether it had to happen or not.  In the short term; Minnesota probably cannot make up for the goals it lost.  Boldy will be better, but it still won't magically make up for 30+ goals lost.  Rossi...I think it will be a longer process than many Wild fans think based on having watched him play all last season in Iowa.  

 

I still think Minnesota needs to free up some more cap space; especially if it wants to re-sign Marc-Andre Fleury and Jacob Middleton.  I think freeing up a roster spot on its blueline wouldn't be a bad idea either but what do I know.  

[ClusterChuck]

On 6/30/2022 at 7:46 AM, CreaseAndAssist said:

I'm 100% fine with this trade.  We had to deal Fiala; there was no way around it.  The player and the team had probably known it was inevitable even before last season began.  The $$$ just wasn't going to be there, and the rest of the league knew it.  To get a 1st, albeit a mid-round pick and a decent prospect in Brock Faber is about as good as we could expect IMO.  

 

That's exactly how I saw it. We got something for him. We won't know how good of a deal it is for a few years anyway.
Just because it's a 1st rd pick doesn't guarantee squat.

Problem is this didn't help the upcoming season other than freeing up a little $$ to resign Fluery and Middleton or whoever BG wants to keep.
Still plenty of potential $$ saving moves could be made on some dead weight starting with certain D-men.

Hopefully Boldy finds chemistry with a new linemate that can grow past 1 season now.

Edited July 2, 2022 by ClusterChuck

[CreaseAndAssist]

Beyond the ire some fans felt over not creating a bidding war for Fiala's services, I think the other logical question to ask is why didn't we ask the Kings for a forward?  If the Kings are deep in any area of their prospect pool it is at forward.  

 

While its unlikely they'd part with Arthur Kaliyev or Quintin Byfield; I think they probably would've entertained dealing away one of their other young centers in their system; like Jarrett Anderson-Dolan and Gabe Villardi.  Considering the Wild dealt an 85-point scoring winger, I think its only fair to ask why we didn't focus on getting a prospect that may have helped fill that spot.  Sure, they can attempt to do so through the draft; which is more forward heavy than defense heavy.  However, Minnesota is VERY DEEP in defense prospects.  

 

Calen Addison has already been mentioned, but he's one of many defenseman prospects in their system.  

 

Carson Lambos (1st round pick from 2021)

Ryan O'Rourke and Daemon Hunt (two players already signed entry level deals, both have had some time in the AHL already during Covid)

Simon Johansson - recently signed this spring after a strong season in FInland's Sm-Liiga

Marshall Warren - Had a decent junior season with Boston College

Jack Peart - former Mr. Hockey had a reasonable freshman season on a very good St. Cloud State team

 

AND now you add Brock Faber to this mix. 

 

Not complaining about Brock Faber the player; but with 2 of your defenseman signed long term and with NMC's you have a lot of options to replace the rest.  If you're looking to save cap space, one would think you'd want to start working these younger (and cheaper) players into the mix.  

 

Still, one might think this team looks to trade one or two of these prospects.