The Los Angeles Kings have acquired left wing Kevin Fiala from the Minnesota Wild for defenseman prospect Brock Faber and a first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2022 NHL Draft.

Fiala is coming off a career-best 1.04 PTS/GP (85 PTS), where he was particularly strong in the second half (56 PTS in 44 GP). That's becoming the theme for Fiala's career, as he was also a better second-half performer in 2020-21. With the bill coming due in 2022-23 for the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts, the Wild were in a precarious cap situation and elected to trade Fiala as a result. Fiala was immediately granted a seven-year contract with a cap hit of $7.875 million from the Kings.   

Fiala's linemates on the Wild tended to vary, but the one constant was that he was never used with Kirill Kaprizov at even strength (both are LW). With his new contract in hand, expect Fiala to be thrust into a top-line role on the Kings with Anze Kopitar. The fact that Fiala does not need to line up with a team's top scorer should leave his fantasy value unaffected, but it could provide a boost for Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

Alex Iafallo could be bumped off the top line and perhaps even out of the top 6 entirely, especially if the other scoring line of Trevor Moore, Phillip Danault, and Viktor Arvidsson remains as is. Iaffalo could also be the odd man out when it comes to first-unit power-play time, so he stands to lose the most with the Fiala arrival. That being said, Moore is also a possibility to be demoted from the top 6. The lines could be in flux to start the season anyway with Arvidsson recovering from offseason herniated disc surgery.

Marco Rossi keeper owners were probably already making room on their rosters for their blue-chip prospect in anticipation of a Fiala trade. Now that it's official, Rossi seems like a slam dunk to make the Wild roster and could even contribute in the top 6 right away. Matt Boldy, who was one of Fiala's most frequent linemates this past season, could end up on Rossi's line.

Another player to keep an eye on for the Wild after this trade will be Jordan Greenway. The giant (6-6, 231 lb.) left winger played on one of the league's most productive third lines with Joel Eriksson Ek and Marcus Foligno, but he could be in line for a greater role (14:34 ATOI, 0:43 PPTOI). Greenway has played 272 career games, so he might be another season away from a breakout. However, the fact that he is 25 years of age could mean the breakout happens this year if it happens at all.

Faber is expected to play at least one more season in the NCAA. It appears that he has a future in the NHL, although his NCAA numbers suggest that he'll be more of a stay-at-home defender as opposed to one that will have a major fantasy impact in pure scoring leagues once he's NHL ready.    

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Players this helps, in order:

Kopitar

Kempe

Rossi

Greenway

Drew Doughty

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Players this hurts, in order:

Iafallo

Moore

Frederick Gaudreau

Boldy

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Give your take on the trade in this thread in the Forum.