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Let's start by establishing two things:
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Kevin Fiala seems to be a good young player with a positive potential. He will be an asset for the future of Wild.
- It was a bad job.
On February 25, 2019, the Minnesota Wild gave up Mikael Granlund, formerly the franchise's hopeful, to the Nashville Predators against Kevin Fiala. The agreement is one for one. Granlund, 26, has 67 points or more in consecutive seasons and was by far the most qualified playmaker in the Minnesota Wild. He is under contract for the 2019-2020 season with a cap of $ 5.75 million.
Kevin Fiala is a 22-year-old left winger who scored 23 goals and 25 assists last season (which is good!), But so far this season has only scored 10 goals and 22 assists decisive (which is less good). Kevin Fiala has additional information on this site. He seems to want to contribute to it and could perhaps cross the 30-goal mark at some point in his career, but the almost universal reaction that prevailed when the exchange was announced was: "That's it? "And I agree.
The Wild has clearly stated his intentions, he is rebuilding / reorganizing and the playoffs this year (or next year) is not the priority. The priority is to become younger, faster and move from a core that has never managed to become a real competitor in the NHL.
The strategy is, from my point of view, the right one. Since the beginning of the year, I have argued that it was the last season to move forward with this core. It's worth it, especially since the commercial offers have been disappointing during the summer. After injuries to Matt Dumba and Mikko Koivu, this season has proven that this team will not be going soon. Looking at the rest of the division, the West Conference and the league, Paul Fenton made the right choice by switching from a "win now" mode to a "built for the future" mode. ".
Incorrect assessment of value
To do this, the key is to get maximum value for players. Players able to score 69 points per season while playing a two-way game that is extremely responsible in terms of defense do not grow on trees; Mikael Granlund is a talented player who improves every team period. Seriously, last season, at 5 against 5, Granlund only started 25% of the time in the offensive zone and still managed to almost equalize his possession statistics in a Boudreau system famous for almost all players with numbers. possession in the list. red (and did I mention he put up 67 points?). Granlund had significant value in this league even though he was in a lower category than Artemi Panarin or Mark Stone.
In addition, Mikael Granlund was only 26 years old. He is not a rookie, but he is still at the top of his career. His best seasons could very well be ahead of him (given the talent that surrounds him in Nashville, I can almost guarantee that next season will be rich in better personal performances for Granlund). Nor was it a rental, Nashville has the opportunity to have Granlund for his playoff race and all the next season.
Fenton decided to cash in his chip Mikael Granlund, but all he's got is a Kevin Fiala. This was not enough.
Fiala has a positive potential, certainly. Dobber Prospects has summed up Fiala as a "top level skater, with a top six among the best as a talented and hardworking sailor. It must be more comprehensive before gaining the confidence in NHLer full time. He is a player I want to rebuild, but he still has not proven himself and is currently having a difficult season. His own team was on him and Fiala was constantly mentioned in commercial rumors. Fiala is a lottery ticket, and may or may not be a winner. What I want is a lot of lottery tickets.
Here's a wild thought (no pun intended), how about a third conditional turn choice for the third round of 2020 that will become a second round if the predators reach the final of the Conference of the 39th? West in 2019 or 2020 and become a first-round pick if predators win the cup in this time frame? To show creativity. The Predators have had a player who is literally on a stamp in his native Finland for two qualifying heats and they are in the same division competing against you. There should be a heavy price to pay for this. The Predators did not sell anything on Fiala, but Fenton bought what his old boss was selling on hook, line and lead.
What is even worse is that the exchange was not necessary now. Do not get me wrong, I think Fenton was right to explore Granlund's commercial market. Damn, he should have done it for Jason Zucker, Eric Staal, Marcus Foligno and Jared Spurgeon as well. But Granlund was not an expiring UFA destined to leave. He still had one year, which meant that if you did not like the offers, you could wait and make the move this summer or next season. I like Kevin Fiala and I'm glad he's part of Wild's future, but he should have been part of a package, not everything, and Fenton had the ability to wait to get this That he wanted.
Bad returns for a GM recruit
Fenton has managed to turn a valuable player who should command a lot and get less than he should. Although they are not completely analogous, this feels a lot like Nino Niederreiter's trade. Charlie Coyle's trade seems closer to fair value, as Fenton managed to get Ryan Donato (a talented candidate) and a fifth-round pick, although the impression was distorted by Donato's strong start in Wild. Add to that the fact that Fenton has nominated Filip Johansson with the choice of the first round of Wild (a player left behind the Swedish Under-20 World Cup team, which is bad for a first round pick), and that Fenton apparently has not been able to get it for Eric Staal. or Eric Fehr (two expired contracts that he could not afford to wait) Fenton seems to miss the mark again and again.
By hiring a longtime deputy general manager as the Wild's new general manager, it was hoped that the learning curve would be shorter for Fenton. This does not seem to be the case. Fenton badly manages the assets and cAnnot seems to manage the ups and downs and the hard decisions to make the work involves. Based on his track record to date, Wild fans should be wondering if Fenton is or is not the person skilled in the craft and not the one who steers the ship throughout this rebuild. Waddell of the Hurricanes managed to have it first plucked, then (to a lesser extent) to Fenton's former boss, David Poile.
I hope that Viktor Rask, Ryan Donato and Kevin Fiala will all have a strong career ahead of them and will now be part of a strong Minnesota Wild core. Donato and Fiala in particular seem to be promising pieces. However, we must judge transactions based on the information we had at the time, because that is the information the DOs have when they do the transactions. From what we know on February 25, 2019, Fenton failed to get enough in return for Mikael Granlund and significantly improved his divisional rival for two years, which is worrisome.
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