On the New Jersey Devils' rumored interest in Kevin Fiala

The Minnesota Wild are dealing with a cap crunch and could move the dynamic winger as a result.

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At Tom Fitzgerald’s year-end media availability he talked about a willingness to move the team’s 1st round pick; should the right piece be made available.

I wrote about that the other day, opining star wingers like Kevin Fiala or Timo Meier could be of interest to the New Jersey Devils.

Fast forward a couple of days and the Devils have been heavily linked to the former. Jeff Marek mentioned the possibility of acquiring Fiala during a segment on Hockey Night in Canada.

Minnesota Wild beat writer Michael Russo also touched on the subject.

Duncan Field @DMRField

Re: #NJDevils and Fiala Prior to Marek's comments on Sat, he hosted MIN writer Russo on his radio show. Russo, when prompted about Fiala's future, mentioned: 1) He thinks he'll be traded at the draft 2) OTT is extremely interested 3) NJD makes a lot of sense 1/

Duncan Field @DMRField

On offer sheet: "I don't think it's a possibility because I bet you they trade him before that" On NJD "Tom Fitzgerald and Bill Guerin are Buddies" "Jill Mill (NJD Dir. Pro Scouting) scouts basically every single Wild game, so he's seen the best of Fiala" #NJDevils 2/

Clearly, there’s a lot of linkage between the two sides. But does Fiala to the Devils make sense beyond the surface level stuff? Should the Devils be heavily interested?

I think so.

Fiala is a dynamic, gamebreaking forward in the prime of his career. He’s an effortless skater who can drive the puck up ice and make people miss in space.

Adding a player of his caliber would help take some of the heavy lifting off the shoulders of the big three; at even-strength and on the power play.

Nico Hischier and/or Jack Hughes would obviously have little trouble getting Fiala the puck in space and helping him create opportunities. But he doesn’t necessarily need them to; with his edge work and hands, he is fully capable of creating his own shots and turning something into nothing.

NHL @NHL

KEVIN. FIALA. WHAT!? 🥵