Mikael Granlund to Predators for Kevin Fiala is a rare win-win for everyone
The Minnesota Wild have indeed sent Mikael Granlund to the Nashville Predators, and here’s how the trade grades out for both sides.
The Minnesota Wild hold the final playoff spot in the West right now, but they will be making a potential push to the postseason with a different set of players. After indications of interest from the Predators earlier Monday, Bob McKenzie of TSN first reported the Wild will send winger Mikael Granlund to Nashville for winger Kevin Fiala.
Granlund is second on the Wild with 49 points this season, but he has just five goals in the last 46 games. He did lead the team with 18 power play points (two goals, 16 assists) though, and Nashville needs help with the man advantage as well as offensively as a whole. Entering Monday’s action, the Predators are last in the league in power play percentage (12.6 percent) and 13th in goals (3.00 per game).
Fiala was drafted by Nashville 11th overall in the 2014 draft, a pick Wild general manager Paul Fenton announced when he was in the Predators’ front office. His scoring output is down so far this year (10 goals and 22 assists in 64 games) due in part to a drop in shooting percentage (7.6 percent). But as a 21-year old in 2017-18, Fiala had 23 goals and 25 assists and was a +20 over 80 games.
The Wild will clear Granlund’s $5.75 million for next year off the books, while getting younger as Fiala gets to the end of his entry-level contract. Via Pro Hockey Rumors, Fiala would be in line for a qualifying offer just shy of $875,000, but the Wild may give him a multi-year proverbial “bridge contract” with a boost from that salary level.
The short-sighted instant reaction is that Minnesota surely had more coming in return for Granlund, or they at least should have gotten more. But Michael Russo of The Athletic has confirmed it’s a 1-for-1 deal.
Right now I'm led to believe it's 1 for 1.... https://t.co/qyIgjjs0Sd
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 25, 2019
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This trade is a win for both sides. Nashville gets a goal scorer and power play producer they need in Granlund, who may be sparked by a change of scenery. The Wild clear much-needed cap space, with the remainder of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s contracts hanging over them, while adding a young speedster with 30-40 goal upside in Fiala.