Player Discussion Kevin Fiala

[Dr Jan Itor]

Granlund is likely going to have a bounceback year. I don't know if he'll reach ~70 points like he has in the past, but you can't honestly tell me he just suddenly got bad out of the blue. I think it likely that there were outside factors that went into his down season last year, and I'd be surprised if he let those factors keep him down forever. It's not like he was bad to start the year (though he was shooting at an rate that wasn't sustainable).

It wasn't even really a down season, more like a down 6 weeks.

I think he'll bounce back with Duchene centering him on the 2nd line.

 

[grN1g]

Granlund is going to bounce back no question imo. Just so many good shooters on that team no matter who's line hes on hes got someone to bury his sweet passes.

 

[Spurgeon]

I have a feeling Granny is gonna put up a PPG next year, especially if he's playing with Duchene. Anyone think he's gonna re-sign in Nashville? I don't see them affording what he's gonna want.

 

[TaLoN]

Granlund was given a lot of prime offensive TOI in MN, and his stats benefitted from it. Maybe he isn't receiving the same TOI in NASH?

He was put on the 2nd line with Turris as the center while he was there. Considering Turris is Rask level bad or maybe worse... it's understandable that he wasn't exactly stellar there.

This season Turris is getting moved down the lineup, and Johansson is already projected as the 2nd line center with Granlund on his wing. Pretty sure we're going to see a bounce back.

 

[nickschultzfan]

I think Granlund was dealing with an undisclosed injury. He was noticeably slower and his hands were not there last year. Guys in their 20s do not just lose a step like that overnight.

 

[DANOZ28]

granlund is a solid player, he'll bounce back to the production we are use to seeing.

 

[Engebretson]

He was put on the 2nd line with Turris as the center while he was there. Considering Turris is Rask level bad or maybe worse... it's understandable that he wasn't exactly stellar there.

I know I'm getting off topic here, but is there something I'm completely missing on Turris? I get it, he had one of his worst seasons statistically last year (23 pts in 55 games) and is definitely not living up to his contract, but he had 51 pts in 76 combined games between Ottawa and Nashville the year before and he put up 10 points in 10 games while captaining Team Canada at this year's World Championships.

I'm not attacking here, just asking an honest question. Full disclosure, I don't watch much of Turris so I'm not seeing what he's doing from shift to shift, but I see these comparisons to Rask from time to time and about the only thing I see that's more appealing about Rask is that his contract is shorter and for less money. Just curious what I'm missing that makes Turris at the level or worse of Rask.

 

[TaLoN]

I know I'm getting off topic here, but is there something I'm completely missing on Turris? I get it, he had one of his worst seasons statistically last year (23 pts in 55 games) and is definitely not living up to his contract, but he had 51 pts in 76 combined games between Ottawa and Nashville the year before and he put up 10 points in 10 games while captaining Team Canada at this year's World Championships.

I'm not attacking here, just asking an honest question. Full disclosure, I don't watch much of Turris so I'm not seeing what he's doing from shift to shift, but I see these comparisons to Rask from time to time and about the only thing I see that's more appealing about Rask is that his contract is shorter and for less money. Just curious what I'm missing that makes Turris at the level or worse of Rask.

Here's a good read analyzing how his game has dropped off a cliff.

https://thehockeywriters.com/nashville-predators-whats-wrong-with-kyle-turris/

When a player goes from playing at one level, and then his entire game regresses after injury, to the point where even his decision making is well below avg and has a negative impact in just about every aspect of the game he's involved in (I think he was still decent at faceoffs though), you can't count on previous seasons as a benchmark on where he will be. Even the Predator's staff and medical team have no confidence in his ability to regain form, which was why they were so desperate to sign Duchene this offseason, so Turris could be demoted out of the top 6.

 

[57special]

So, in light of recent RFA signings, how much is Fiala signed for?

 

[BagHead]

My guess is Fiala comes in somewhere around $4.5 million AAV. It's really random guesswork on my part there, as he doesn't have the resume that Keller has, and his resume is better than Kempe's, but neither of them are really directly comparable. I'm kind of in shoulder shrugging territory, here. From reading Russo it sounds like his salary demands are pretty high compared to what he's proven to be worth so far, so I don't really know what to expect out of that, but if he earns anywhere near the amount that I posted, he's going to need to improve his game a lot over what he showed here last season.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

My guess is Fiala comes in somewhere around $4.5 million AAV. It's really random guesswork on my part there, as he doesn't have the resume that Keller has, and his resume is better than Kempe's, but neither of them are really directly comparable. I'm kind of in shoulder shrugging territory, here. From reading Russo it sounds like his salary demands are pretty high compared to what he's proven to be worth so far, so I don't really know what to expect out of that, but if he earns anywhere near the amount that I posted, he's going to need to improve his game a lot over what he showed here last season.

Christ I hope you’re hope you’re wrong.

 

[a79krgm]

Not a fan of KF ... but I'll say two things to Fiala's credit … He played all 82 games +1 this year. And he hasn't had any kitchen accidents.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

Evolving Hockey has him just over $3.1M. Not that this is gospel but very rarely are they off by $2M+.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Evolving Hockey has him just over $3.1M. Not that this is gospel but very rarely are they off by $2M+.

How many years? I’d hope that the $4.5 would be a little bit longer than a bridge?

 

[2Pair]

How many years? I’d hope that the $4.5 would be a little bit longer than a bridge?

Yeah, at $4.5M you would have to be looking at a 5-6 year deal. On a standard 2 year bridge, he should be looking at something around $3M-$3.5M

 

[DANOZ28]

3.5 seems fair, 4 is pushing it. anything over that trade him.

 

[57special]

Fiala really needs to be on a " prove it" deal.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I like him more than a lot here seem to. I'd go longer if the value was there.

 

[Minnesnota]

I like him more than a lot here seem to. I'd go longer if the value was there.

I'd want him on a longer term deal as well - I just don't think in the current RFA climate that would be a reality unless he was getting Clayton Keller money.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I'd want him on a longer term deal as well - I just don't think in the current RFA climate that would be a reality unless he was getting Clayton Keller money.

Which I definitely would not do.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

How many years? I’d hope that the $4.5 would be a little bit longer than a bridge?

Sorry, I should have mentioned the term.

Their projection of $3,102,279 was a 2 year contract.

 

[BagHead]

Christ I hope you’re hope you’re wrong.

Me too.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Team would be fine if he held out and Guerin has a good justification for not making Fiala a top priority. Plenty of other RFAs are also unsigned.

Now is the play a bit of hardball.

 

[57special]

Not the worst idea.

 

[Wildfish13]

It may be a less than stellar metric but it proves my point that that you can easily verify with the eye test and that fialas excessive turnover ability is a defensive liability and is therefore much worse of a complete player.

That metric was an illustration of a point that many are blind citing statistics when the truth is obvious.

IMO it's obvious Fiala is poor defensively and a Turnover machine. Dredge up whatever stat you want but I'll believe my eyes. Can that change? I sure as hell hope so because he's a net liability right now.