…‹In today's hotstove, we share our thoughts on the surprising trade that saw Minnesota deal Mikael Granlund to Nashville in exchange for Kevin Fiala.…‹
Todd Cordell
A lot of people made this out to be a one-sided trade in favor of Nashville. I don't see it that way at all. I think it was a pretty fair swap that can be easily justified for both parties.
The Predators are contending. They want to improve any way possible. Granlund is a more complete, polished player, and he excels in an area the Predators really struggle (on the power play). He is an upgrade over Fiala right now.
With that said, Fiala has produced 5v5 points at a near identical rate to Granlund since the beginning of 2017-18. Fiala's averaged 1.90 per 60 minutes while Granlund's averaged 1.96 per 60. The difference in raw totals? Granlund was given more minutes and opportunity. In Minnesota, Fiala will get more run than in Nashville, and the potential is certainly there for him to pop.
Again, Granlund is the better player right now. Fiala is quite good, though, and he's younger, cheaper, and under team control for longer.
This trade makes a lot of sense given where each team is at.
Dan Wallace Do I think Nashville won the Granlund/Fiala trade?
In short, no I do not feel that Nashville won the deal hands down as many have initially responded.
Although Granlund is an established top-six forward that is a proven 60-70 point scorer in the league, he has failed to elevate beyond that and appears to be at his peak.
Granny was also part of the Wild's soft underbelly that has underperformed for years.
Fiala is younger, faster, and possesses enormous potential.
The Wild have been the most vanilla team in the league with the same boring roster accomplishing the same old nothing for years with no end in sight.
Paul Fenton saw his opportunity to move a talented player for a younger skilled player that is under Wild control for years to come.
No one ever succeeds doing things the conventional way. Paul Fenton has a plan and he is executing that to bring a change to the persona of the Wild.
The Wild have been too cute forever l looking for the perfect play and Granlund was one of the biggest culprits.
The Wild have become a far more exciting team to watch with the latest moves and the emergence of their young talent Luke Kunin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Jordan Greenway.
James Tanner I like this trade for both teams. Nashville gets a proven scorer who is under contract at a decent price for one more season. Minnesota gets Kevin Fiala who is a good player who looks like he'd score more if given the opportunity. He's got a 98 PDO which has prevented him from matching last year's totals, but all that means as far as the Wild are concerned is that they can re-sign him for cheaper than he's probably worth. Nashville is going for it so this trade makes sense, but assuming you can lock the 22-year-old Fiala up for his prime, I really like this trade for the Wild.
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