A New Frontrunner Has Emerged for Kevin Fiala
Kevin Fiala, the 26 year-old Swiss winger, is an arbitration-eligible restricted free-agent this summer. Meaning he still has a degree of team control. If any team wishes to sign him they would have to forfeit draft picks relative to the AAV at which they sign him. Or they can trade for him, which is the likeliest scenario. The Minnesota Wild have a projected $7.38 million in cap space this summer, and Fiala's career season will surely see him handsomely paid. Therefore, the Wild are fielding offers for the star forward, and a handful of teams lead the pack. Of those there is reportedly an outlier who might have an edge.
Lisa Dillman of The Athletic, in her LA Kings Mailbag, was asked about the Kings' chances at landing Fiala. Shockingly, her response was that the New Jersey Devils are apparently leading the charge to land the Wild RFA. The Devils are a sensible landing place for Fiala, they have the cap space, prospects & picks to finalize a deal. Plus, as alluded to by Dillman, there is an international connection between Devils' captain Nico Hischier & blossoming defensive stalwart Jonas Siegenthaler. All three are products of Switzerland, a program that has produced a serious crop of high-end hockey talent.
Further to the point, the Devils could really use his services. While their biggest problems are goaltending, powerplay, & to an extent coaching, deploying a play-driver of Fiala's calibre would seriously compliment Nico Hischier & Jack Hughes. The Devils were 9th in xGF & 16th in finishing, which would be immediately improved by Fiala's presence. The same could be said for their 28th ranked powerplay. While the need is apparent, it is tough to see the Devils parting ways with their 2nd overall pick in this year's draft or any of their top-top prospects; Luke Hughes, Alexander Holtz & Shakir Mukhamadullin have all been rumored but the chances of one of those going back in exchange are next to zero. But luckily for the Devils they have a lot of other assets to offer up. One of the few benefits of being a basement dweller for the better part of a decade.
Fiala's acquisition would mean the Devils forward group could look something like:
Jesper Bratt - Jack Hughes - Kevin Fiala
Yegor Sharangovich - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
Tomas Tatar - Pavel Zacha - Andreas Johnsson
Miles Wood - Michael McLeod - Nate Bastian
That is a solid forward group, plus they have cap space to insulate elsewhere. Leftover forwards include Jesper Boqvist, Janne Kuokkanen, Jimmy Vesey (UFA).
While nothing is set in stone, the Devils lead the pack as far as a landing spot for Fiala goes. However, there are other teams who could submit a qualified package. The Kings have both picks & prospects, but not the cap space. While they will have a projected $20 million to spend this summer, they have a lengthy list of free agents to sign including Adrian Kempe, Sean Durzi & Troy Stecher. The New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, & Seattle Kraken are all rumored to be in the hunt as well. This will be an interesting situation to monitor because the Wild's lack of leverage has drawn a field of suitors, enabling GM Bill Guerin to host a bidding war. Should be a fun story to monitor this summer.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 6 | 199 ANSWERS A New Frontrunner Has Emerged for Kevin Fiala Is Kevin Fiala worth the #2 pick? | ||
| Yes | 62 | 31.2 % |
| No | 98 | 49.2 % |
| See results | 39 | 19.6 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Patrick Maroon | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Lukas Reichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Travis Konecny | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Anze Kopitar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Quinton Byfield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Noah Cates | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Adrian Kempe | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matvei Michkov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Martin Pospisil | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kevin Rooney | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bobby Brink | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kevin Fiala | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tyson Foerster | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Justin Kirkland | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Daniil Miromanov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||