Revisiting the Kevin Fiala-Brock Faber trade
Last summer, the Minnesota Wild and Los Angeles Kings pulled off a blockbuster trade involving superstar forward Kevin Kiala. Only a few months into the 2023 season, let’s take a look at some winners and losers of the trade.
The young 27-year-old forward in Kevin Fiala is coming off a career-high 85-point season, crushing his previous career-high 54-point season. It wasn’t easy to acquire the Gallen, Switzerland native, as the Kings gave up defenseman Brock Faber and the 2022 19th overall pick, Liam Ohgren.
Winners:
This was no surprise for the Minnesota Wild. Fiala forced their hand to trade him or sign him to a long extension, but because Ryan Suter and Zach Parise are still being owed money, it was a trade that needed to happen. In the end, both the Kings and Wild became huge winners.
Kevin Fiala has to be the biggest winner in this trade. After coming off a huge point increase, Fiala gets to join a young and fun Kings team. He is the star on that team, and combining him with a lot of young talent like Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe, Fiala can shine in LA for a long, long time. On top of that, he got paid … a lot. Fiala chased the bag in this trade, earning himself a seven-year deal worth $55.125 million.
My next winner is the Minnesota Wild. Even with losing Fiala, they won this trade. Acquiring Brock Faber and Liam Ohgren for the future is a monumental win. Faber has been a demon on the blue line for the Wild. The Maple Grove, Minnesota native is off to a hot start to his rookie season with the Wild. Posting one goal and seven assists in 18 games played.
Faber is the defenseman of the future for the Minnesota Wild. The kid is going to be a stud in the future, certainly a name to watch out for the Norris Trophy in the years to come.
On top of Faber, Minnesota added a much-needed winger to their lineup in Liam Ohgren. Ohgren was a stud in Sweden. In J20 Nationell back in the 2021-22 season, Ohgren posted 33 goals and 25 assists in just 30 games. Later that same year, he was named team captain of Sweden’s 18-year-old World Junior Championship team. He would score three goals and six assists in six games.
Losers
Honestly, this trade has no losers in it. Both the Wild and Kings became huge winners and came out of this trade as better teams. Adding Faber and Ohgren is vital to the Wild’s future. As for the Kings, Fiala is one of the most underrated players in the league and can truly enhance the development of the Kings’ young players.
This trade is the equivalent of the Tyrese Haliburton-Domantas Sabonis trade in the NBA. No losers, just a straight-up winner-winner trade.
What do you think of the trade? Who came out as the winners and losers? Let us know in the comments below.
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