Top Five Moments of the Minnesota Wild’s 2019-2020 Season- So Far
By Lake Martin
2. Kevin Fiala’s Fantastic Play as of Late
Our Contributor Brandon Quast covered Kevin Fiala’s emergence in a recent article, but it can’t be omitted here. He’s a wizard on the ice. Every time he has the puck, it stirs excitement because what could he possibly do next?
Fiala didn’t start the season hot, he grew into it. It might be hard to imagine, but he was stuck in the press box for some games as a healthy scratch. It would be insane to return to that time.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad coaching decision, I think Kevin Fiala’s electric play recently has been due to more opportunity. Jason Zucker got traded on February 10th and in the fourteen games since that trade, Fiala has ten goals and nine assists for a total of nineteen points. If you look at the game logs, you do see Fiala begin to pick up his performance in the four games before the Zucker trade (Four Goals, Three Assists), but I believe he’s been given full opportunity to succeed.
It isn’t to say Zucker took away from his chances, especially because they typically play on opposite wings, but I do think that Fiala is allowed to perform more with the ice, he’s been given the spotlight and the ability to create.
Kevin Fiala has 23 goals and 31 assists this season, and if you recall, back in August, I predicted Fiala would have 25 goals and 32 assists. With a (possible, yet unlikely) 13 games left to play, I almost guarantee he surpasses that prediction.