The New Jersey Devils missed out on Kevin Fiala – now what?

There are still plenty of intriguing ways to improve up front.

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The Kevin Fiala sweepstakes reached a conclusion on Wednesday afternoon.

Despite the New Jersey Devils being linked to Fiala for the better part of two months, and rumored interest right down to the wire, the Los Angeles Kings were the team to pry his services from Minnesota.

They parted with defense prospect Brock Faber, and the 19th overall pick in next week’s draft, in exchange for the dynamic top line winger; not a high price to pay for such a valuable player.

While it’s easy to point fingers at Tom Fitzgerald – you couldn’t beat that offer?!? – it’s important to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It doesn’t much matter if you or I don’t think all that much of Faber or his upside. The Minnesota Wild clearly do.

Fitzgerald chucking in any B-level prospect is probably not as intriguing to GM Bill Guerin as getting a local kid that he quite likes; nor is waiting until 2023 for the 1st round pick.

This draft isn’t high on top-end prospects but the 15-25 range is as deep, or deeper, than most years. The Wild no doubt feel Judd Brackett can find a good piece at 19 and want to add one to the organization – and start development – right away. New Jersey couldn’t offer that.

Put another way, an ‘equal’ package wouldn’t do the job. The Devils would’ve really had to go above and beyond; something

What next?