Player Discussion Kevin Fiala

[Wabit]

I also want to thank Kevin Fiala for helping my day to day life — because of him, people in the Minnesota might actually know how to pronounce my last name

Your last name is NotNino?

 

[Bazeek]

What the stats say about Fiala



Matthew Henriques on TwitterMatthew Henriques on Twitter
Micah Blake McCurdy on Twitter

The best case scenario, I guess, is that we just traded Granlund for a guy that can do most of what Granlund did but that's 4 years younger, several million cheaper and has more team control. I still think it's absurd that we gave Nashville the player that already does that without getting anything extra back, but if Fiala can take Granlund's minutes and be a 55-65 point player next year it evens up some. I think that's unlikely, but I'll have to watch a few games before I start jumping to conclusions.

Fenton either knows his player better than most and knew this was worth it, or he's guilty of one of the crimes that Fletcher was let go for: getting too attached to "his guys."

 

[keppel146]

Best guess:

Parise - Staal - Fiala
Donato - Eriksson Ek - Kunin
Zucker - Greenway - Aberg
4th line

this our lineup? it looks horrendous. Hope Fiala proves us all wrong.

 

[Wild11MN]

Now that I watched all of Fiala's goals from last year, I'm an expert on Fiala.

He actually scored a bunch of goals off the rush, something I don't think you can say any other Wild player has the ability to do.

 

[Nharris31]

The best case scenario, I guess, is that we just traded Granlund for a guy that can do most of what Granlund did but that's 4 years younger, several million cheaper and has more team control. I still think it's absurd that we gave Nashville the player that already does that without getting anything extra back, but if Fiala can take Granlund's minutes and be a 55-65 point player next year it evens up some. I think that's unlikely, but I'll have to watch a few games before I start jumping to conclusions.

Fenton either knows his player better than most and knew this was worth it, or he's guilty of one of the crimes that Fletcher was let go for: getting too attached to "his guys."

Excatly

 

[Nharris31]

I hope he doesn’t dump the puck in unless he absolutely has to otherwise the Wild are going to destroy his best skill set.

 

[ref19]

this our lineup? it looks horrendous.

haha not at all man

 

[57special]

Now that I watched all of Fiala's goals from last year, I'm an expert on Fiala.

He actually scored a bunch of goals off the rush, something I don't think you can say any other Wild player has the ability to do.

Zucker...weren't we all just complaining that he scores all of his goals off the rush?

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

Zucker...weren't we all just complaining that he scores all of his goals off the rush?

Somebody was.

 

[Wild11MN]

Zucker...weren't we all just complaining that he scores all of his goals off the rush?

I thought we were all complaining because he can't hit the net. He doesn't score enough off the rush. Terrible at breakaways and never shoots on the rush.

 

[Wabit]

I thought we were all complaining because he can't hit the net. He doesn't score enough off the rush. Terrible at breakaways and never shoots on the rush.

He's not terrible at breakaways. He's terrible at wraparounds.

 

[2Pair]

He's not terrible at breakaways. He's terrible at wraparounds.

He's pretty terrible at breakaways also

 

[57special]

I thought we were all complaining because he can't hit the net. He doesn't score enough off the rush. Terrible at breakaways and never shoots on the rush.

Ok, we better get our stories straight, or we might get in trouble..

 

[Wild11MN]

Ok, we better get our stories straight, or we might get in trouble..

^Probably what Fenton is telling his staff if they are asked how they could possibly make some of these trades.

 

[Northerner]

Best guess:

Parise - Staal - Fiala
Donato - Eriksson Ek - Kunin
Zucker - Greenway - Aberg
4th line

That's kind of weak looking team.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

That's kind of weak looking team.

Yeah, probably.

 

[Nharris31]

That's kind of weak looking team.

That other teams will take lightly.

 

[Nsjohnson]

this our lineup? it looks horrendous. Hope Fiala proves us all wrong.

"Looks horrendous"

Also notices how horrendous the Wild have been this year with the same line up for the past few years.

"Not sure if being bad enough to lose in the first round every year is horrendous or the new lineup which I haven't seen play yet"

 

[TheeNorthStar]

His confidence on the break (and speed) excites me

 

[MuckOG]

This is eerily similar to Brunette's OT winner against Colorado way back when....

 

[Shimoe]

Fiala gets standing ovation in 2017 playoffs (end of clip)

A bit of a stretch since they were already standing for the National Anthem but I appreciate the positive vibes

 

[AJ Thelen]

Is he by any chance related to the Wild legend Ondrej Fiala?

 

[123TripleDoge]

Zucker...weren't we all just complaining that he scores all of his goals off the rush?

Noticed this as well. Lots of 2 on 1's where he actually shot and scored. The Wild have been consistently horrible in that regard so that should be cool. I think Fenton in his little segment mentioned getting fast shooters for the modern NHL

 

[tomgilbertfan]

The Kevin Fiala trade: How to feel about the Wild's latest...

One of the things Fenton seems to be looking for in players is a willingness to shoot the puck. Fiala has that. Over the past three years, Fiala’s 8.8 shots per hour is 47th — 100 spots ahead of Granlund — among the 330 forwards with 1,500-plus minutes of 5-on-5 ice time. That shot rate puts him alongside Jason Zucker and Eric Staal as some of the most prolific shooters on the team.

But not only does Fiala shoot quite a bit, his shots are dangerous. Fiala lives in the high-danger areas, inside the slot and in front of the net, peppering opposing netminders with wristers from there all night. So it should come as no surprise that his expected goals per hour is 28th in the NHL over his first three full seasons.
...
Fiala is allergic to dumping the puck. Even during the down season he’s having, he has the third-fewest dump-ins per hour in the league. This is almost uncharted territory for the Wild, who have been a dump-and-chase team for almost their whole existence. To play a faster, more exciting brand of hockey, Minnesota is going to need more players who are able and wired to carry the puck like Fiala does.

 

[keppel146]

Trading Granny to a division rival...ooo this could be good. Now very excited to see our former guys play against us.