NHL Rumors: Wild Forward on the Move?

Kevin Fiala has had an impressive season in Minnesota. The twenty-five year old left-winger didn't miss a game this season and certainly made good use of his time on ice. Fiala potted a prolific thirty-three goals and finished the regular season with eighty-five points. All that to say, there's no doubt the forward is among the league's elite.

As per Frank Seravalli on the DFO podcast, it is a "95% likelihood that Kevin Fiala is getting traded."

Last summer, Fiala was a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The Wild went on to sign him to a one year deal with a cap hit of $5.1 million. Now, after his best season by far, Fiala is again in need of a contract extension but has clearly earned a bigger paycheck. Let's just say, it's a paycheck that the Wild likely cannot afford.

The Wild have a current cap-space of 7.3 million. Rather than spend their spare bucks on Fiala, the Wild could fill the cap space with less costly (and much needed) core pieces.

While Fiala's future is still up in the air, it is almost certain that it'll be a future outside of Minnesota.

The New Jersey Devils are a team to keep an eye on in the Fiala sweepstakes. The Devils head into the offseason with $20 million in cap space, not to mention the second overall pick in the upcoming draft and elite prospects Dawson Mercer and Alexander Holtz.

The #Devils are reportedly the favorites to land Minnesota Wild left winger Kevin Fiala.https://t.co/AVICQ5B81g
— Ryan Novozinsky (@ryannovo62) June 6, 2022