How Kevin Fiala will become a superstar for the Minnesota Wild
Kevin Fiala was drafted 11th overall by the Nashville Predators in the 2014 NHL Draft, and while the Predators hoped Fiala could be a big part of their future plans, things didn’t exactly turn out to what both Fiala and the Predators organization expected to happen in Nashville.
Fiala began to emerge as a top-six candidate for the Predators coming into the 2018–19 season as he set career highs in goals, assists, and points at the time the season before, but the problem was he wasn’t truly able to emerge as a star in Nashville with the likes of players like Filip Forsberg, Ryan Johansen, and Viktor Arvidsson already overshadowing him and taking up first line roles with the team as well.
For that reason, that did take a hit on Fiala’s development with Nashville since he wasn’t able to fully use his offensive skillset to his advantage and because he never really had the opportunity to play that role he has played in with Minnesota right now, at least consistently he never had the opportunity to.
Not only that, but Fiala’s role with the team took a really strange turn throughout the 2018–19 season as he was kind of up and down Nashville’s bottom-9 (a majority of the time in their bottom-6 as well) as the year went on, and since he was getting juggled around so much and playing with forwards who were less skilled than him, he wasn’t able to produce on a consistent basis like he was able to the season before.
The trade that sent Mikael Granlund to the Nashville Predators in return for Kevin Fiala only gave Fiala the opportunity to emerge as a star on a team that lacked both young and dynamic talent, and Granlund had already proven his value as a consistent top-six scoring option in Minnesota for the last couple of seasons which is why there were a numerous amount of questions surrounding this trade for the Wild.
Though Fiala didn’t show too much potential in his first stint with the Wild, things weren’t working well with Granlund in Nashville either as he kind of ended up in the same spot that Fiala was in Nashville, in the shadows of the stars and not in the spotlight like he was in Minnesota consistently.
But, this trade couldn’t have worked better for Fiala now as he totaled 54 points (23G, 31A) in 64 games this season, setting new career highs in both assists and points and tying his career high in goals, the last time he hit that mark came in 2017–18 with the Nashville Predators. Though you could argue that Fiala’s first breakout season was back in 2017–18, I’d say this was much more of a breakout season for him since he was able to emerge as that young star forward for Minnesota, something they desperately needed after they traded away Mikael Granlund.
A big reason why Fiala put up these numbers was because of now full-time Wild head coach, Dean Evason, who actually coached the Milwaukee Admirals for six seasons before he joined the Wild as an assistant coach in 2018. Evason has been pretty familiar with Fiala over his time with Milwaukee as he coached him for three years there and was also able to get him to emerge as a star forward for them as well.
Things worked out really well for Fiala under Evason in Milwaukee as he finished with 89 points (36G, 53A) in 121 games over three seasons in the AHL, so the connection with Fiala from his time in the AHL was certainly there, but the key with Evason was that he was able to help develop Fiala into all-situations player with Minnesota and get him to commit to playing more of a defensive game.
“Not only is he scoring goals, he doesn’t hurt us in other areas of the game,” Evason said. “He’s committed to doing the right things, and he’s getting rewarded for it.”
“He’s committed to playing a team game, playing a defensive game, and that’s allowed him to be on the ice more to use his offensive talents,” Evason added. “He’s gone through quite a process to get to this point.”
Quotes via twincities.com
Everyone knew that Fiala oozed offensive talent and potential from the start as he has such a tremendous raw playmaking ability and puck skills to go along with his shifty skating abilities. But, since Fiala had the opportunity to drive his own line with that increased offensive role in Minnesota, that allowed him to use his skating, hands, playmaking abilities, and creativity to his advantage and put up the numbers he did this season. He truly couldn’t have been in a better spot than Minnesota to emerge as a star.
The Addition of Kirill Kaprizov
Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild’s top prospect, decided to finally come over to North America just a few weeks ago as he signed a two-year contract with the club, and even though he won’t be eligible to play with the team for this year’s playoffs, he was able to participate in training camp and travel with the team to the bubble in Edmonton, so he was able to get acclimated with the club, North America, and some of his future teammates as well which is exactly what Wild GM Bill Guerin wanted.
“To have him in the mix and have him signed would be nice,” Guerin said. “If he could come over and get to know the area, meet some of his future teammates, see how things are done here, I think that would definitely be an advantage.”
Quote via twincities.com
Since the contract that Kaprizov signed with the Wild did technically start this season, that burned the first year of his contract and therefore he will be eligible to become an RFA after the 2020–21 season, and while Kaprizov is under more team control compared to some of the other Russian players in the past who came over to play in the NHL, he will get an opportunity to make some more money quickly depending how next season goes for him.
We all know how Kaprizov is so gifted and so dynamic offensively, and obviously his goal-scoring abilities are mainly why he gets recognized as the elite talent he is. His ability to pick open pockets and parts of the net from angles that are almost unthinkable is something that makes him so elite, but he also owns a high-end shot and high-end puck skills which allows him to pick those pockets in the net and score in multiple types of ways, whether it’s around the net in tight spaces or from distance.
The quick movement he has in his upper body makes him so evasive with the puck and bodes really well with his lower body movements since he is able to rotate his hips quickly and adjust his body positioning on the fly in order to create scoring chances for himself in tight spaces and create passing lanes for his teammates efficiently, but he is also able to keep his momentum moving forwards with his speed at the same time, so his hands, upper body, and lower body coordinate really well with each other all the time.
The strength and power he has both in his hands and his legs gives him many different and unique advantages in certain situations, with his legs it’s something that allows him to change direction on a dime and maneuver his way through opposing players since he is almost constantly moving his feet, but he is able to stay strong on his skates and not get knocked off them easily as well. His hands are just as good as his puck touches and puck control are both excellent, but he is also so strong on his stick and is very difficult to knock off the puck which also allows him create opportunities for himself and maneuver through tight spaces. But, since he is also able to manipulate defenders with his hands and draw opposing players towards him, that allows him to open up passing lanes easily and draw players out of position.
The Wild have to take advantage of this opportunity now that they have a proven young and dynamic scorer in Kevin Fiala who would work perfectly with someone like Kaprizov, another young and dynamic goal-scorer in his own right, and if all goes right with those two on a line together, there’s certainly potential for both of them to hit the 30–40 goal mark next season and surely in the coming seasons. With the amount of speed and skill those two would bring together, it would just be too much for handle for opposing teams.
Kaprizov could be someone that helps rejuvenate Minnesota’s offense and could actually help Kevin Fiala become a superstar on that team as well. Since they’ve both developed their play without the puck season by season as well, they could interchange in that grinder/physical role and pry pucks free out of the corners and other 50/50 battles in order to create opportunities for one another, so the situation is pretty good for both players now as they do actually compare favorably in terms of style, and I don’t think it will take much time for them to create chemistry together either.
Revisiting the Trade
There’s no doubt that Minnesota won this trade now as not only has Fiala turned into a breakout star this season with the Wild, he’s really shown so much maturity to playing a defensive game and being a player who can play in all situations rather than just being a really skilled offensive forward. Many people, including myself, at the time didn’t really imagine that Fiala could be that star all-around forward in Minnesota, but obviously now he’s proved those people wrong.
The Wild even have another advantage with Fiala since he is locked up for another year with the two-year, $6M contract he signed last September, which gives the Wild more cap flexibility right now since he is at least locked up for another year before he needs to end up being signed to an extension as well, but the Wild will also have Fiala under team control after next season as well since he will be eligible to become an RFA after the season is over.
The Predators might end up walking away with nothing from this trade as Granlund will be eligible to become a UFA after the playoffs are over. It certainly looks unlikely that Granlund will resign as he’s looked very uncomfortable in Nashville’s system over these last two years with both Peter Laviolette and now John Hynes, so that’s definitely not a great look for the Predators there now.
So, yes, I think we can all agree now that Paul Fenton was actually right about this trade. While there were still some bad moves he made that hurt the Wild, this one sure looks like a genius move now.
