Fantasy Take: Fiala Moved to LA

Ian Gooding

2022-06-29

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.    

Players this helps, in order:

Kopitar

Kempe

Rossi

Greenway

📢 advertisement:

Drew Doughty

Players this hurts, in order:

Iafallo

Moore

Frederick Gaudreau

Boldy

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

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Oct 07 - 17:10 FLA vs CHI
Oct 07 - 20:10 NYR vs PIT
Oct 07 - 22:10 L.A vs COL

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
TYSON FOERSTER PHI
SAM RINZEL CHI
JACKSON BLAKE CAR
PAVEL DOROFEYEV VGK
NOAH CATES PHI

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
JACOB MARKSTROM N.J
CONNOR HELLEBUYCK WPG
TY YOUNG VAN
ARTUR AKHTYAMOV TOR
JET GREAVES CBJ

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency S.J Players
23.9 TYLER TOFFOLI WILL SMITH MACKLIN CELEBRINI
20.7 NIKOLAI KOVALENKO DANIL GUSHCHIN TY DELLANDREA
20.1 ALEXANDER WENNBERG CAM LUND WILLIAM EKLUND

DobberHockey Podcasts

Fantasy Hockey Life: Ottawa Senators with Alex Adams

Alex Adams of Sportsnet is here to report on the Ottawa Senators. Jesse and Victor interview Alex about returning pros Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Brady Tkachuk, Dylan Cozens, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Ridly Greig, Fabian Zetterlund, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Jordan Spence, Linus Ullmark, and Leevi Meralainen. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Washington Capitals Preview with Dan Holmi of Locked on Caps

Dan Holmi is here to report on the Washington Capitals. Jesse and Victor interview Dan about returning pros Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, Aliaksei Protas, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Tom Wilson, Connor McMichael, Ryan Leonard, John Carlson, Jakob Chychrun, Rasmus Sandin, Logan Thompson, and Charlie Lindgren. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down Garin Bjorklund.  […]

Fantasy Hockey Life: Stefan Rosner on the New York Islanders

Stefan Rosner is here to report on the New York Islanders. Jesse and Victor interview Stefan Rosner about returning pros Bo Horvat, Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, Simon Holmstrom, JG Pageau, Maxim Tsyplakov, Calum Ritchie, Noah Dobson, Ryan Pulock, Alexander Romanov, Scott Perunovich, and Ilya Sorokin. In Cat’s Instincts, Cat Silverman of InGoal mag breaks down […]

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: