Granlund for Fiala

		2019 Season				July 1, 2019
To Nashville	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Mikael Granlund	F	63	15	49	$5.75m	1	$5.75m
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To Minnesota	Pos	GP	G/W	Points	Cap	Years	Cap
Kevin Fiala	F	64	10	32	$863k	0	RFA

An interesting one-for-one deal in the trading frenzy today, as the Nashville Predators were looking for another upgrade on their active roster, while the Minnesota Wild looked to get a little bit younger and flexible against the cap and this trade does just that, when it was all said and done.

The Predators added a good veteran scoring presence in Mikael Granlund, already 27 years old, to their mix, one that has some hands and some good offensive instincts, one who also knows the grind of this difficult division, not to mention comes withe one more season tacked on.

In Kevin Fiala, the Wild get a 22-year old with some offensive upside still expected in his overall game, but he still has to find that part of his game at the NHL level, something that the Wild must be confident in.  Still, the Wild gain more flexibility with a significantly less cap hit and some bargaining ability in the summer, when Fiala goes to restricted free agency.

The Predators had to give up some youth, if they were going to add some experience and in this deal, they moved a roster player for a roster player and players that each team could be happy to hold onto for the next season and beyond as well. 

This was the first deal of the day, where there was more than one pool player, not to mention a pool player going in either direction.  Granlund belongs to Troy and there isn't a lot of certainty that Granlund's play would necessary increase his scoring with his new team, but there's always a chance it could go either way, really.  I think Troy should be pretty pleased about this deal, it looks good at the surface of it.  Mike, on the other hand, wasn't getting as much offense from Fiala and he is moving to a team that scores fewer teams, as a whole, 20 less to be exact, so the kid may struggle a bit to find his way or he may relish the opportunity of possibly finding more ice.  These are things to look for when it comes to these two guys, there could be pluses, there could be minuses... but Troy starts action on Monday night 63 points out of the money, much closer than Mike, but Mike has a line on some paying mini-games... maybe Mike does get the advantage here?