“Don’t have cap space” – Kevin Fiala signs 7-year contract with Los Angeles Kings day after trade from Wild

“Don’t have cap space” – Kevin Fiala signs 7-year contract with Los Angeles Kings day after trade from Wild

Kevin Fiala

Swiss left winger Kevin Fiala signed a seven-year, $55.125 million (average annual value of $7.875 million) contract with the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. This took place one day after he was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild.

The 25-year-old Fiala, who could have become a restricted free agent on July 13, was acquired for defenseman prospect Brock Faber and a first-round pick (No. 19) in the 2022 NHL Draft. Wild general manager Bill Guerin stated that he knew he was going to have to trade Fiala, who signed a one-year, $5.1 million contract last offseason to avoid a salary arbitration hearing.

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“Yeah I did,” Guerin said on Wednesday, as quoted by NHL.com. “He had 85 points. The kid had a great year. We don’t have [NHL salary] cap space. Honestly, to keep him we’d have to trade three guys or two guys and deplete our team more. Then the following year we’re going to need even more. It just didn’t fit.”

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“Need guys that don’t make millions of dollars” 

Kevin Fiala
Kevin Fiala

The St Gallen native Fiala had an NHL career high in goals (33), assists (52) and points (85) in 82 games for the Wild this season. The youngster also had three assists in six Stanley Cup Playoff games, when Minnesota was eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference First Round.

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He added: “We’ve been down the road a couple of times with Kevin already. Hey look, he had a great year and we knew we just were not going to be able to do it. We knew that, they knew that. There’s no sense in just trying to [mess] around and try to fit this and fit that and give them a lowball deal. It’s not going to work. We knew we were going to have to move him.

“We need younger guys. We need guys that don’t make millions and millions of dollars. We just have to do it that way. And I think for long-term success as well we have to keep adding to our prospect pool.”

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