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What Should the Minnesota Wild Expect from a Full Season of Kevin Fiala?

By Lake Martin

ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 25: Kevin Fiala #22 of the Minnesota Wild takes a breather during a game with the Nashville Predators at Xcel Energy Center on March 25, 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - MARCH 25: Kevin Fiala #22 of the Minnesota Wild takes a breather during a game with the Nashville Predators at Xcel Energy Center on March 25, 2019 in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA – MAY 21: #21 Kevin Fiala of Switzerland talks to the referee during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group game between Czech Republic and Switzerland at Ondrej Nepela Arena on May 21, 2019 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo by RvS.Media/Monika Majer/Getty Images)
BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA – MAY 21: #21 Kevin Fiala of Switzerland talks to the referee during the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship Slovakia group game between Czech Republic and Switzerland at Ondrej Nepela Arena on May 21, 2019 in Bratislava, Slovakia. (Photo by RvS.Media/Monika Majer/Getty Images) /

Recently, Damiano Cansani from leadingsport.com (@LSportCH on Twitter) reached out to learn what fans of the Swiss Professional Hockey team, Geneva Servette, could expect from former Wild player Eric Fehr. After giving him a scouting report, I asked what Kevin Fiala was like when he was a prospect in the Swiss league, what his role is for the Swiss National Team, and what Wild fans should expect in his first full year with the team. Here’s what he had to say:

"Well, I follow him mostly when he plays for the Swiss National team. They can expect a very fast, agile, gritty offensive forward who can score goals. I mean, his shot is very good and accurate. His size is not impressive (surely, you noticed that already), but thanks to his “never give up” attitude he can stand up to bigger opponents and oftentime fool them. On the downside, when he plays for Switzerland I have the impression that he doesn’t work hard enough when it comes to defensive play… and I can assume he’s not a great penalty killer either, since he never plays during PK situations. Anyway, if you have Fiala in your team, you have a very good forward who, moreover, has extensive room for improvement, he’s only 23 after all. And despite his young age, he is already experienced. Finally, he never refuses to play for the Swiss national team when the coach calls him and that proves his love for this beautiful sport."

Fiala has a sick shot that I don’t think he uses enough for it to get serious respect in the league, something he could learn from Ryan Donato. Damiano brings up an important point. Fiala doesn’t seem entirely committed to the defensive side of the game. Last season Kevin Fiala was -11 with the Preds and -12 with the Wild which is a career-worst. It’s unlikely it will ever be nearly as low, but it has cause for concern. If you recall, Fiala never backchecked hard (at least never as hard as this Jared Spurgeon backcheck) and would frequently turn the puck over in the neutral zone or just inside the blue line, which would put situations Fiala would need to backcheck hard and cause odd-man rushes for the other team. I’m convinced last season was an outlier. With reports that Fiala could start the season with Kunin and Parise, I have a tough time believing he makes this bad outlier a consistent trend.

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