Kevin Fiala was traded to the Los Angeles Kings by the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday for defenseman prospect Brock Faber and a first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2022 NHL Draft.
Fiala, who can become a restricted free agent on July 13, had an NHL career high in goals (33), assists (52) and points (85) in 82 games for the Wild this season. The 25-year-old forward also had three assists in six Stanley Cup Playoff games, when Minnesota was eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference First Round.
After the season, Wild general manager Bill Guerin said he wasn’t sure if they’d be able to keep Fiala, who played this season on a one-year, $5.1 million contract.
“I mean, we’d love to have Kevin back,” Guerin said on May 17. “I don’t know if it’s going to be possible, but we have to dig into it a little bit and see what we could possibly do. But there is uncertainty. That’s a good word for it.”
Selected by the Nashville Predators in the first round (No. 11) of the 2014 NHL Draft, Fiala has 283 points (124 goals, 159 assists) in 419 regular-season games, and 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 35 playoff games.
Faber recently completed his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota, where he had 14 points (two goals, 12 assists) in 32 games and was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. The 19-year-old also played for the United States at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, getting one assist in four games.
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