It's being reported that Minnesota Wild restricted free agent Kevin Fiala is unlikely to start training camp with the rest of his teammates. The 22-year-old is a native of Switzerland and, according to the Athletic's Michael Russo, even if he were to sign a new deal now, work visa issues would likely stop him from being in Minnesota by Friday.
Russo adds he's spoken to Wild GM Bill Guerin, who told him "We've made [Fiala] a fair offer and he's deciding....we want to get him in as quick as possible because if you miss training camp, the chances of you having a good year aren't very good."
If Geurin's assertion that missing training camp lowers the chances of having a good year, there could be a few current RFAs who won't be having their best seasons once they sign their new deals. Gaps are still being reported between Brayden Point and Tampa Bay, Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs, as well as Brock Boeser and the Canucks, among others.
Minnesota acquired Fiala in February of this year in a one-for-one trade with Nashville for Mikael Granlund. The trade left many analysts stunned at the time as Granlund had not been involved in any trade rumours and had scored at least 40 points in five of six seasons, including at least 60 in each of the previous two seasons. He went on to complete the 2018-2019 year with 54 points. Fiala finished last season with 39 points, including 13 goals, in 83 games (Minnesota had played fewer games than Nashville when the trade took place). The trade was likely one of the factors involved in former Wild GM Paul Fenton getting canned after a little over a year on the job during this offseason.
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