The New Jersey Devils have been linked to Minnesota Wild star Kevin Fiala. What would it take to actually make a deal happen?
While many New Jersey Devils fans had dreams that the team would be in on Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala, many assumed a team would come in and wow the Wild with a different deal. However, Jeff Marek with Sportsnet officially named the New Jersey Devils on the 32 Thoughts segment as a team that would be willing to make a big play for Fiala.
The Wild are likely in a bad place when it comes to re-signing their star winger. He had his best year ever, scoring 85 points in the regular season. He had seven game-winning goals, had a +23 +/-, and he started pounding the assists putting up 52 this season. He was once a player who was pretty equal in goals and assists, but now he’s started to become a points machine.
Is this a player hitting his ceiling when he turns 25 years old, or is this a major risk where a player just happens to have the best season of their career the year they need to get paid? Either way, the Wild can’t afford to take the risk. Even with the salary cap going up by $1 million next season, the Wild will have $3.5 million in cap space next season. They have to find a way to sign two forwards and a backup goalie with that price, and that’s if they don’t sign Kevin Fiala.
How much do the New Jersey Devils have to pay for Kevin Fiala?
The Wild’s salary cap situation comes from buying out Zach Parise and Ryan Suter last offseason. The dead cap hit is north of $12 million next season, and then it jumps to $14 million after that. The Wild were going all in on winning it all this season, As of this writing, they have a 2-1 lead on the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It could be worth it, but if they don’t make a run, it’s really going to cost them.