The Nashville Predators keep up in the Western Conference arms race by adding versatile center Mikael Granlund, giving up 2014 first-rounder Kevin Fiala.
Predators get: C Mikael Granlund
Wild get: LW Kevin Fiala
Predators: B-plus
The Predators got ahead of the trade deadline by acquiring Brian Boyle from the New Jersey Devils earlier this month. But as Monday went on, Nashville's stiffest competition in the Central Division, the Winnipeg Jets, got better by adding Kevin Hayes. The Golden Knights, the team that won the Western Conference last season, would end up getting better too, finishing a deal for Mark Stone, perhaps the most coveted player on the market.
GM David Poile is never afraid to make a splash, but in this deal, it feels like he needed to just keep up. He also added Wayne Simmonds, who can help the team win right now (and becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer). Granlund is more than a rental. Granlund's contract, with a $5.75 million cap hit, expires at the end of next season.
Granlund can play on the wing and center, and that versatility can be appreciated for a team that has had some middle-six issues. Fiala, the No. 11 pick in the 2014 draft, was once viewed as untouchable in any trade talks. That feeling changed after his production sputtered this season. Poile made a deal with Wild GM Paul Fenton, his former protégé, and certainly wasn't going to get fleeced. For a team against the cap, the contract won't kill them, either; the biggest offseason to-do item is a new deal for captain Roman Josi.
Granlund's play fits Peter Laviolette's style more than Fiala did; this is a win for the Predators.
Wild: C
Fenton had been cautious with the roster he inherited. He wanted to take time to assess what he had before he put his stamp on it. He did not make any NHL trades for his first eight months on the job.
That feeling out period is over now. Fenton has, over the past five weeks, traded Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and now Granlund, all players who coincidentally were selected in the first round of the 2010 draft, and all players who were under the age of 26 and believed to be important parts of the Minnesota Wild core going forward. The acquisition of Fiala is a move that especially had Fenton's name all over it. Fiala is a player whom Fenton admired from his time in Nashville; the Swiss-born Fiala is a speedy winger who never fully realized his potential with the Predators, but who Fenton believes can be a top-end scorer in this league. It is a risk, though; he never got there with the Predators, and Granlund was more of a sure thing. After scoring a career-high 23 goals last season, it looked like Fiala might be stalling in Nashville. He had only 10 goals in 64 games this season.
Fiala does mesh well with what the Wild's preferred identity is, kind of like Ryan Donato, a player who was acquired over the weekend.
And as Fenton continues to craft the roster he envisions -- not the one that his predecessor, Chuck Fletcher, built -- this gives him more financial flexibility. Fiala's next contract, which is likely a bridge deal, should be cheaper than Granlund's deal. If he flourishes under Bruce Boudreau, we'll amend our grade. But for now, there are too many ifs.