Confirmed Trade: [NSH/MIN] Mikael Granlund for Kevin Fiala

[AKL]

Fair enough, that is my mistake. I thought the leg injury was the playoffs following his 50 point season.

That said, he's shown no indication in his time in Minnesota this year or last year of having that offense. Besides the one game against the preds.

He’s not Patrick Kane. He’s not going to carry a line of bad players. When the whole team is garbage like it has been last year and this year, he’s going to struggle.

Which is why I’m choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he has the chance to play on a good team or at least a good line.

 

[ThatGuy22]

He’s not Patrick Kane. He’s not going to carry a line of bad players. When the whole team is garbage like it has been last year and this year, he’s going to struggle.

Which is why I’m choosing to give him the benefit of the doubt until he has the chance to play on a good team or at least a good line.

He's a big part of why it's been garbage though. That's the point. He's here to be an offensive player. And he's not doing it, and he doesn't bring anything else to the table. On top of that, he is actively giving the puck away constantly.

 

[AKL]

He's a big part of why it's been garbage though. That's the point. He's here to be an offensive player. And he's not doing it, and he doesn't bring anything else to the table. On top of that, he is actively giving the puck away constantly.

So is literally everyone else. Not one single player is getting it done right now. He’s not the only one. Not even close. And most of the team is actively giving the puck away constantly.

I fail to see why Fiala should be held to a higher standard.

And just to be clear, those veteran forwards who also provide leadership and defensive play aren’t providing that either. So please tell me why Fiala should be getting singled out.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

He's a big part of why it's been garbage though. That's the point. He's here to be an offensive player. And he's not doing it, and he doesn't bring anything else to the table. On top of that, he is actively giving the puck away constantly.

Did I stumble into a Parise or Staal thread?

 

[ThatGuy22]

So is literally everyone else. Not one single player is getting it done right now. He’s not the only one. Not even close. And most of the team is actively giving the puck away constantly.

I fail to see why Fiala should be held to a higher standard.

And just to be clear, those veteran forwards who also provide leadership and defensive play aren’t providing that either. So please tell me why Fiala should be getting singled out.

I literally just posted Staal would be next on my list to scratch if we had any Center options at all, so I don't think I am holding him to a higher standard.

I don't think it's singling out Fiala to say he's a good candidate to scratch because the one thing he's supposed to do is produce offense, and not only is he not doing it well, he's been the worst on the team at doing it.

Again, it's not just that he's had bad results with a bad team. He's been the worst, on a bad offensive team.

 

[57special]

He is tied with immortal Victor Rask in goal scoring in his time with the Wild, with 3.

 

[chchelseII]

Minnesota fans complain about having a team of boring players that dump and chase and we don’t have anyone with puck skills or anyone that can carry the puck into the zone

Then Minnesota fans complain when we have a guy with puck skills who can carry the puck into the zone and they want to neuter him into a dump and chase player because they didn’t realize that play style has a tendency to “cause more turnovers” than dump and chase players

Man, if it helps, just imagine that every time he turns it over at the blue line trying to get into the zone, he actually dumped it and we didn’t recover it on the forecheck.

These are two completely different things. Turning the puck over at the blue line is a cardinal sin. It leads directly to odd man rushes and goal scoring opportunities. Dump-and-chase leads to opportunities to retrieve the puck and generate goal scoring opportunities without the risk of odd man rushes. I don't let my 12 year olds get away with turning the puck over at the blue line.

 

[Mick Jagr]

Fiala for Galchenyuk straight up. No take backs.

 

[Rask Decisions]

Fiala has not looked like an NHL-level hockey player in at least two years. Why is anyone getting bent out of shape about him being scratched?

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Fiala has not looked like an NHL-level hockey player in at least two years. Why is anyone getting bent out of shape about him being scratched?

Nonsense. I can't speak for what he has accomplished in his last 24 NHL games, but we'd take him back as our 2nd line LW in Nashville today.

He has some warts. Warts are not fatal.

 

[Viqsi]

Hard to find good underlying offensive numbers of a team that hasn't had any offense. But lets just let the veterans play because atleast they are "good in the d zone".
Every time this team drafts a safe two way player people complain about it. But then when players are offensive forwards without an outstanding 2 way game they don't want that.

Come now. Everybody knows that on every team in the NHL, the only acceptable draft candidates are do-everything superstars, and hidden surprise future do-everything superstars. Anything else is a failed draft pick and worthy of complaint. It's SCIENCE.


In other news, if y'all're giving him away, the Jackets would be interested in an offer or two. We have bottom-pairing and you-might-get-away-with-this-guy-on-the-second-pairing blueliners available!

 

[57special]

Fiala has some above average NHL skills. He is just having trouble putting it all together. He is not being helped by playing on a team that is self destructing, and just plain awful.

 

[Amadeus]

I still think he has a shot to put it together.

 

[PredsHead]

Nonsense. I can't speak for what he has accomplished in his last 24 NHL games, but we'd take him back as our 2nd line LW in Nashville today.

He has some warts. Warts are not fatal.

I disagree that Nashville would take him back today. He just is not careful enough with the puck and has trouble staying engaged in the game. Those are things that he has struggled with since his first NHL game and unfortunately they have not gotten any better. The Preds tried everything from sending him down to putting him on the fourth line to try and make him a more responsible player and it just didn't take. It sounds like Minnesota has come to the same point with him and are hoping that the embarrassment of making him a healthy scratch will wake him up.

 

[Mick Jagr]

I still think he has a shot to put it together.

Not in Minnesota. That roster is a mess. I feel bad for Bruce Boudreau to be honest.

 

[Keeptdos]

I feel bad for myself. There is no-one who can make you wow in the team, no excitement. Sadly our defense is good but it's useless when we don't have offense. Feel like it's about the 2010 team waiting for Kaprizov this time to come and save us + this time we can not buy FA's like Suter and Parise to lift the hopes. We need few top2 picks like Matthews, McDavid, Barkov, Laine or Eichel and then luck to draft someone great.

Wish we still had Coyle, Nino and Granlund so we could at least show some competetive. Maybe it's just for the best to build through draft this time...

 

[mattihp]

I feel bad for myself. There is no-one who can make you wow in the team, no excitement. Sadly our defense is good but it's useless when we don't have offense. Feel like it's about the 2010 team waiting for Kaprizov this time to come and save us + this time we can not buy FA's like Suter and Parise to lift the hopes. We need few top2 picks like Matthews, McDavid, Barkov, Laine or Eichel and then luck to draft someone great.

Wish we still had Coyle, Nino and Granlund so we could at least show some competetive. Maybe it's just for the best to build through draft this time...

Until you have the players you will need to play more out of the strengths.. A boring system might be needed again..

 

[Qward]

Trade him to the Sens for a 2nd and Boedker and Nick Paul

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Minnesota fans complain about having a team of boring players that dump and chase and we don’t have anyone with puck skills or anyone that can carry the puck into the zone

Then Minnesota fans complain when we have a guy with puck skills who can carry the puck into the zone and they want to neuter him into a dump and chase player because they didn’t realize that play style has a tendency to “cause more turnovers” than dump and chase players

Man, if it helps, just imagine that every time he turns it over at the blue line trying to get into the zone, he actually dumped it and we didn’t recover it on the forecheck.

It's not binary, I think you're both right. You obviously want a player who can carry the puck over a line, but you gotta be able to manage the puck when you have to, too. A turn-over at the blueline off the rush is obviously exponentially more dangerous than a dump-in and failed recovery.

Fiala can enter the zone but he definitely turns the puck over too much trying to make something that isn't there at the offensive blue sometimes. I haven't seen much of Minnesota this year yet, but I'd wonder if this deficiency in his game reared it's head and might be why he was scratched the other night.

 

[olli]

Paul Fenton is heinous

 

[Mildan]

Imagine Minnesota scratching Granlund from games..

 

[Meuracas]

Wasn’t Fenton the assistant manager of Nashville before joining Minnesota?

This is like adding a new manager in EHM just to accept a trade the AI refused to accept and then retiring.