Mikael Granlund Traded to Predators

Wild fans have waited all day for big news to come and it appears it has arrived:

Mikael Granlund has reportedly been traded to the division rival Nashville Predators for Kevin Fiala. It is unknown if the deal is one for one or if additional picks/players are involved. Deal appears to be one for one.

Rumors have been flying that Nashville was interested in Granlund since last night, and Paul Fenton’s connection to Nashville made the rumors at least plausible. Fenton, former Assistant GM in Nashville, was heavily involved in drafting and developing Nashville’s young players more than almost anyone.

Fiala was drafted 11th overall by the Predators in the 2014 draft. He is a skilled left winger and at age 22 still has lots of upside to his game. In 80 games with the Predators last season, Fiala put up 23 goals and notched 25 assists, but so far in the 2018-19 season he has only tallied 10 goals and 22 assists in 64 games played. Additionally, he has managed to be -11 on an otherwise good team (insert usual caveats about the validity of +/- as a stat here).

Mikael Granlund was not only a fan favorite but was one of the few players capable of putting points up on an offensively challenged team. Drafted 9th overall in the 2010 draft, Granlund found success after morving from center to right wing where he put up a career high 69 points in 2016-17 and followed that up with a 67 point campaign in 2017-18.

More analysis to come as Paul Fenton continues to shake up the Minnesota Wild roster.