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The Wild made the first significant move of the NHL offseason Wednesday, trading the rights to restricted free-agent winger Kevin Fiala to the Kings for a 2022 first-round pick and defensive prospect Brock Faber.
Fiala and the Kings then reportedly agreed to terms on a seven-year, $55.3 million contract extension. The deal carries an average annual (AAV) of $7.9 million.
The Kings announced the trade Wednesday afternoon.
WELCOME TO LA, KEVIN!We've acquired Kevin Fiala from the @mnwild in exchange for D Brock Faber and our 2022 first-round pick.— LA Kings (@LAKings)
The deal was first reported by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, with The Athletic's Michael Russo later reporting the full details.
Minnesota was not going to be able to re-sign Fiala given its cap situation. Los Angeles jumped at the opportunity to improve its forward group by acquiring the Swiss winger and locking him up as a part of their future.
Fiala, 25, broke out as a point-per-game player this past season. He set career highs with 33 goals, 52 assists and 85 points. He trailed only Kirill Kaprizov in points on the Wild and was third behind Kaprizov and Ryan Hartman in goals. His 17 power-play points put him in a tie for third on the team.
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Fiala had long been tied to trade rumors. The top-line winger had a career year and was due a new contract this summer.
The Kings capitalized and brought in a player who can immediately join their top six. Los Angeles surprised some people this season by making the playoffs after years in a rebuild; now they're ready to truly compete. Getting a playmaker like Fiala immediately improves their forward group.
What they gave up for him may seem like a lot, but Los Angeles had accumulated a lot of prospects. Faber has high upside, but he wasn't even the team's top right-handed defensive prospect. The Kings also have 2021 first-rounder Brandt Clarke, in addition to Helge Grans and Jordan Spence. All of the players in the organization who are on the rise made the Kings' 2022 first-round pick expendable.
The Wild traded a player who had high value. They got more in return for him in this deal than if another had team submitted an offer sheet.
Minnesota's cap situation will begin to get very tricky next season. After buying out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise's contracts last year, the Wild will have roughly $12.75 million in dead cap space for the 2022-23 season, then $14.75 million of it in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
With all that buyout money, the Wild are looking at having just under $6 million in cap space for next season. As much as they would have liked to re-sign Fiala, there was no way they would have been able to afford him.
They now have two picks in the first round of this year's draft as well as a legitimate defensive prospect in Faber. The University of Minnesota standout previously announced he would return to to college in the fall. The 2019 second-round pick of the Kings was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Big Ten. Faber also played for Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Kings are not expected to make an announcement on the Fiala extension on Wednesday, but multiple outlets reported that it would be a seven-year contract with an AAV of $7.9 million.
The #GoKingsGo and Fiala have agreed to a 7-year contract extension. But do not expect the Kings to announce full details of the extension today, by the sounds of it. https://t.co/bJI3fC0Lok— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod)
Fiala becomes the second-highest-paid forward on Los Angeles' roster behind Anze Kopitar, and the third-highest-paid player behind Kopitar and Drew Doughty.
It's a big raise for Fiala, who would have been due a $5.1 million qualifying offer from Minnesota.
