Nashville Predators: Fiala’s Magic Touch Dazzling The NHL

Kevin Fiala’s recent streak of brilliance has helped the Nashville Predators first place in the Central Division and showcased to the NHL his magic touch.

Back in 2014, the Nashville Predators made a big decision. They chose to draft a forward in the first round for the first time since 2010 (Austin Watson). On the board at number eleven overall were players like Dylan Larkin, Sonny Milano, Nick Schmaltz, Robby Fabbri and David Pastrnak. But someone caught David Poile’s eye.

A 5’10, St. Gallen, Switzerland native named Kevin Fiala stood out to the GM. The young gun entered the draft ranked as the third best European skater and was playing for HV-71 in the Swedish Hockey League. Draft reports called him a “shifty” forward who was an elusive skater. His confidence playing in a physical league remained the biggest concern. Weighing the good and bad, Poile made the decision to draft Kevin Fiala eleventh overall and the rest was history.

The 2014-15 season gave Fiala his first NHL game. The 2015-16 season gave Fiala his first NHL goal. Finally, during the 2016-17 season, the young Swiss got a chance to play over fifty regular season contests. Despite moving down to Milwaukee several times during the campaign, Fiala’s name was on the roster for the playoff opener against the Chicago Black Hawks. Before suffering a season ending injury, Fiala importantly netted two post-season goals in Nashville’s sweep of Chicago.

As the 2017-18 season got underway, noticing Kevin Fiala was not difficult. The problem? He just couldn’t score. Despite getting more scoring chances than many of his teammates, it just would not go in.

Finally, on Novemeber 14, it finally came.

Since then, four more goals have flown off the stick of number 22. Additionally, his dynamic puck movement has made it easier for his teammates to score. Let’s break a couple of these down, shall we?

November 20 – The Spin-o-rama

In a great game against Winnipeg, Kevin Fiala absolutely stuns Connor Hellebuyck. Two things stick out in regards to Kevin’s skill with this goal.

First, Fiala moves to just outside the slot, right at the inside of the circle. He opens up his stance, giving P.K. Subban a lane to a shot pass (which he takes). Many players will play that opportunity with the intention of tipping a shot on net. However, Kevin Fiala understands that opening up the slot by sliding slightly out of it will provide another option for P.K. Players who think in terms of creating the most options are invaluable to a team.

Secondly, when Fiala receives this pass, he doesn’t try a forehand shot on Hellebuyck. The only way you will beat a 6-4 goaltender involves getting him to move laterally. By immediately going to the back-hand, Hellebuyck has to respect the near post and begins to move. Fiala uses the movement of a big goaltender to find a gap between the pads and slides it in. Absolutely beautiful. Oh, and this all happened in a matter of about three seconds.

December 2 – The Power Play Snipe

During a heated match against the Anaheim Ducks, Fiala makes his presence known during the power play.

In this play, Fiala does two things very well. He goes to open space and he keeps his stick on the ice. For some reason, these two things are just so darn hard to remember in the heat of a game. The players that do the simple things score goals and Fiala is no exception.

You’ll see Fiala drift in here and gets all the space in the world. The Ducks left winger (possibly Nick Ritchie) loses his stick and decides the threat from the point is more important than the slot. The rest of their PK unit is frankly spaced poorly, but Fiala takes advantage and finds space. Then, he fires the shot just as he receives it. He doesn’t waste time and he gets it on net. Those qualities have allowed Filip Forsberg to become the goal-scorer he is and Fiala follows closely in his footsteps.