The evolution of Kevin Fiala

There was a time in Kevin Fiala's career where he'd probably be handling his personal successes in a much different manner.
Call it self-improvement, or a different mindset ... maybe even maturity. Whatever it is, the Wild forward has become one of the most dynamic players in franchise history at a time when the club is putting together arguably its finest season yet.
Certainly, this team has been the franchise's most exciting, with club records falling on an almost daily basis.

Fiala has had his share of those too, and when it comes right down to it, so much of it comes back to that new ... let's call it an evolution.
At 25 years old and in his third full season in Minnesota, Fiala is on the verge of becoming a potential superstar in the NHL, and realizing the potential others saw when he was selected with the 11th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
\\\\\\
Fiala's new outlook starts with his professionalism.
A restricted free agent last offseason, Fiala watched as fellow restricted teammates Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek inked long-term extensions to remain in Minnesota.
Fiala had to settle for a one-year deal, but that wasn't all bad.
While the contract meant Fiala would have to bet on himself this season, he's walked the walk in a way where he seems likely to get a long-term deal somewhere this summer.
The hope is that it is in Minnesota, where he's clearly found something special with rookie forward Matt Boldy and one-time Milwaukee Admirals teammate Freddy Gaudreau on the Wild's second scoring line.
It's a status that in the past may have rankled the talented young forward, but his perspective has changed.
Control what you can control and the rest will take care of itself, right? There's no sense worrying about things that cannot be handled in this moment, with the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the horizon.

"I mean, why should I [worry]? There's so much more in this season," Fiala said recently. "Anything can happen. So right now, I think it would hurt me to think about something else than the team and the right now."
That's easier said than done of course, at least for someone who would have bet on themselves and failed to reach expectations.
Ever since the Wild acquired this enigmatic talent in a straight-up trade with the Nashville Predators for fan favorite Mikael Granlund at the 2018 Trade Deadline, Fiala has tantalized with glimpses of brilliance.
Early on, he'd show it for a couple of weeks at a time. His second year in Minnesota, it'd be for a month before the inevitable fall back to Earth would occur. Then he'd heat up for a few weeks, only to cool back down.
Last season it was a two-month torrid streak.
This season, Fiala started agonizingly slow by his own admission.
After scoring a goal on Opening Night in Anaheim and tallying a point in each of the first three games, he wouldn't score a goal again until nearly one month into the season. He'd go five games without even a point to end the month of October.
By Halloween, Fiala had played eight games. He had one goal, three assists and was a minus-4.

"I had a bad start, obviously. Everybody knows it, and I know it as well," Fiala said. But it's far, far away, and I'm looking at it right now, and it's going well right now.
"The past is past."
Boy is it ever.
While the hot stretches would come a week or two at a time, maybe a good month would follow a poor month, Fiala has been in the midst of a five-month heater where it certainly appears where the now veteran of more than 400 NHL games has found his stride in the league.
Wild fans at Xcel Energy Center will never get cheated by Fiala for his effort on the ice, and now they're being handsomely rewarded on a seemingly nightly basis on the scoresheet.
Fiala has obliterated previous career bests in virtually every category, scoring at least 30 goals, topping 40 assists, going well over 70 points -- all firsts in his NHL career.
That, despite a virtual revolving door of talent on his right wing for the first three months of the season until Boldy made his NHL debut in Boston on Jan. 6. The rookie forward never ceded the spot back.
With the ever-smiling friendly Freddy in the middle serving as an extra "security blanket," per Wild coach Dean Evason, that line got immediately hot and hasn't cooled down.
"We have a special connection, it feels like. We know where each other are," Fiala said. "It's just the chemistry of all three of us, I feel like. It just fits."
Over the final half of the NHL regular season, Fiala averaged more than a point per game, a stretch of hockey that is unlike any other he's had since becoming a league regular during the 2016-17 season.

"I think you can tell when he's taking over a game," said Wild captain Jared Spurgeon. "He's so dynamic. He's strong on his skates, and he can shoot, he can pass, and it's fun to watch when he gets going. He has that confidence all the time. But just right now, it seems to be like pucks are finding him and he's working very hard."
Even Evason, one of Fiala's most strident critics over the years dating back to their days together in the American Hockey League, has been impressed with the way Fiala has been able to make a nightly impact on games in all areas.
While stars like Kaprizov and Zuccarello have had magnificent, historic offensive seasons, they haven't been as versatile as Fiala, who has established himself as both a consistent threat in the offensive zone, but a 200-foot player and a relied-upon penalty killer as well.
"Kevin's just played hard. He's played hard. He's played heavy, hard minutes," Evason said. "It's not as much cute stuff. It's hard, straight forward and he's getting rewarded for it."
Playing on the PK is something Fiala said he takes a tremendous amount of pride in. It's a sort-of arrival moment for him as an impact NHLer.
Of course, he's been a staple next to his old pal Gaudreau while killing penalties too, a connection that paid dividends down the stretch, like in a 3-2 overtime victory in Dallas on April 14, when the two connected for Fiala's first career shorthanded goal.
There's an obvious chemistry there that has come with years of experience together.

"I think we can understand each other pretty well," Gaudreau said. "I can sense when Kevin is going towards the offense too and I can back him up. I think we read off of each other pretty well, but he's so speedy and strong and he make good reads with his stick too, so it's easy to play with him on the penalty kill."
But the heavier minute load has also paid off in other ways.
"The longer I play, the better I get," Fiala said. "I recognize how to think, how to act. I think when I'm at my best, I just don't think at all. Don't overthink, just play the game. Just play, and everything will settle."
Evason's skepticism comes from a place of love. This is a guy who was a dynamic player in Milwaukee then made it to the NHL in Nashville and looked like he was on the verge of a breakout, before breaking his femur in Game 1 of a 2017 playoff series against the St. Louis Blues.
It's an injury that has ended careers, and Fiala was forced to rebound from it before his had truly taken off.
He'd get back, but inconsistency plagued his game. If it wasn't an ill-timed turnover, it'd be an ill-advised penalty. Often times, the head-scratching plays would outweigh the glimpses of brilliance.
Those instances have been reversed in a big way this season. Of course, there's hiccups, as there are with any player as talented as a guy like Fiala.
But the payoff this season has been immeasurable for both he and the team.

"I think he always works hard but he's got a little extra jump in his step," Boldy said. "He wants the puck, and something me and Freddy have definitely learned is you give the puck to Kevin when he wants it. When he's yelling and he's open he's going to make a play with it. When he's got the hot stick that he has, you get the puck to Kevin."
Now, the true test begins ... if Fiala can translate that regular season dominance into a postseason to remember. Should he pick up where he left off, the Wild could be in for a short summer.
Count Evason as a believer that Fiala is really showing now the kind of player he can be well into the future -- a future that starts with these Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"It's that time of year where we definitely have to hope that's the guy we're going to see, not only Kevin but the people we need to see all the time now on a consistent basis," Evason said. "We may not get the results every night and we may not score goals every night but you still have to play the right way. Our group has been very conscious of that for the most part but ... Kevin, I think that is who we're going to see the rest of the way and obviously, it'll be great for us."