Kevin Fiala appeared to work his way into Dean Evason's doghouse in recent weeks, but the idea of the Minnesota Wild actually trading the winger at some point this season seemed far-fetched.
So, it was fascinating that when TSN released its first "Trade Bait" board of the season, Fiala was No. 8.
Perhaps there's a real possibility Bill Guerin would be willing to move the 25-year-old winger, and if that's the case, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney should be blowing up his phone.
Much of Fiala's career has been centered around trade rumors. He got off to a strong start with the Nashville Predators upon becoming an NHL regular, but his production started dipping and he was bumped to the fourth line. As things continued unraveling in Nashville, Fiala became a "change of scenery" player and revived his career upon getting traded to Minnesota at the 2019 deadline -- the same deadline that saw Charlie Coyle get moved to the Bruins.
In many ways, Fiala is the poster boy for the change of scenery concept, having been a proven example that such trades really can rejuvenate a player.
He posted 20 goals in each of the last two seasons, slashing 23-31-54 in 64 games back in 2019-20 before going 20-20-40 in 50 games last season. The goal-scoring hasn't been there as much this season (he has three with 12 assists in 25 games), but some of the numbers suggest he's still an impact skater who can drive play. Fiala's most common even-strength linemates (Frederic Gaudreau and Joel Eriksson Ek) this season all have worse Corsi For percentages without Fiala than with him.
Why then would the Wild want to trade him?
Simply put, he's snakebitten and has fallen out of favor. He's been benched for stretches during games, removed from the top power-play unit and is visibly frustrated, which you can tell by his on-ice body language and occasional remarks to the media. That his production is down is even more concerning because he has generated chances, thus it's his finishing ability that's plummeted to start the season.
We've seen this before from Fiala -- heck, the Predators had to bury him on the fourth line before trading him.
It would make sense then that his time in Minnesota could be about up. It's hard not to look at the Bruins, given their need for secondary scoring and the public trade request from Jake DeBrusk, and think they would be anything other than a perfect landing spot for Fiala.
With Brad Marchand and Taylor Hall taking the top two left wing spots, the Bruins could put Fiala on the third line with players like Erik Haula and Nick Foligno. That would be a unit that has a lot of speed with Fiala and Haula, but also would have someone like Foligno who can get to the net. If Hall ever ended up in a rut, Fiala is more than capable of playing a second-line role. It's also worth mentioning he can play on his off side when needed.
A 2014 first-round pick, Fiala is going to be a restricted free agent this offseason. His $5.1 million cap hit is a little steep and could make a potential Bruins-Wild transaction more complicated, but it's not so high that it would be a non-starter for Boston.
And, not for nothing, he's good friends with Bruins winger Anton Blidh.
Fiala still is relatively young, and the exact type of player the Bruins should be willing to "take a chance" on. Players who score 20-plus goals a season don't grow on trees, and even if his production is down this season, he's a realistic target Boston should be eyeing.
