Tough lineys for Fiala.
Why not give him a shot with Kap and Eriksson Ek?
Because for whatever reason, Evason decided he didn't want Fiala and Kaprizov to play on the same lines, and then when Zuccarello came back from injury last season he was put with Kaprizov and the two had almost instant chemistry, and haven't been broken up since.
I mean I'm sure they're trying to "spread the offense" because Fiala, even by himself the last two years, was first then second on the team in points, so he is capable of carrying corpses to an extent. But it's frustrating seeing him basically be wasted here. And the "spreading the offense" theory only works until you realize that this season they decided to load up the first line and have zero offense through the rest of the roster (outside of Fiala).
And it's bad enough that they're jerking him around on the ice, but after a tough contract negotiation last time, Guerin gave him a 2 year bridge deal at 3M AAV, and in those two years he put up a 68 point per 82 game pace, and they still couldn't give him a deal with any term for some reason. Then Guerin had the gall to get on the broadcast yesterday during the preseason game and talk about how Fiala needs to show him he deserves term. It's at the point where I want him traded to another team just so he'll actually get a GM who wants him and respects him and a coach that'll actually put him in a good position to succeed.