Fiala talks starting over with Kings in Q&A with NHL.com

Last updated Jan 16, 2023 Edit Source

• News post

• Tom Gulitti

Forward aims to help Los Angeles ’take big steps’ after trade from Wild in June

• Kevin Fiala

# Kevin Fiala

You’re not stupid. You kind of see it coming and you realize the situation, how it is with the cap issue they had and the dead cap space, and on and on and on. You kind of expected it and it also helped me when it happened that I was like, OK. I know. I know.

It’s kind of better, if you can say that. You can process it a lot more. You can really think about it, talk with the guys and then you have some time off. It’s like two months later you go to L.A. and see everybody, so it’s kind of a new start.

I think they have a great team. They had a good year last year and made the playoffs and you see the young guys they have. It’s a bright future. You see the future. So that’s what I thought. Seven years, we can take big steps. They still have those older players who have won Stanley Cups before. They’re still there. They have great experience. They can help out the young guys to win the Cup. It was a great fit for me personally.

I hope I can help them out to take the next step, to take the next step overall.

Yes, [Todd McLellan and I] did also. It was great, a great talk. The GM as well, [Rob] Blake, a great talk overall.

Well, we will see. We’ll see about that. I’ll take it as it comes, go with the flow. Go there and give my best and then let’s see what’s going to happen.

Not yet. No. I’m looking online a little bit. I want to see it first before I buy something. But it’s been a busy summer.

The lifestyle is way different. Minnesota is cold, but I really liked it there and now it’s going to be sunny and warm all the time. You can go in flip-flops to the rink, and I feel the mood is going to be easier to keep on a positive note when the sun is shining.

Yeah, very tough. Like you said, we built something. When I got there (in 2019), we didn’t make the playoffs, so the next year was better and better and better. And also in the locker room itself, I feel like we built something great there and it was like a big family. So it’s kind of [stinks] in this way to leave something that I was a part of building. But in the other way, I couldn’t be happier to be with the Los Angeles Kings and I can’t wait to start.

I think and I hope there’s still more there. I’m 26 years old. I’m pretty young. I’ve got big goals for the future. I had a good season, but there’s a new season starting now, so you’ve got to start over.

Just, I think, the mental part, the consistency. There are 82 games. It’s a long season, a lot of ups and downs and if you can stay consistent with your mental game, I think that’s the biggest key to success. I feel like I’m an impatient guy a little bit and I want it all a little too much sometimes. My goals are very high, and you can’t make the goal after Day One. It’s a long season. So maybe you’re squeezing the stick too much [from] the pressure. So I think I learned from that a little bit that just to enjoy the game, enjoy being with the boys to have a good time, be happy and go with the flow and everything else fixes itself.

Hopefully. That’s my goal as well. I’ve been through a lot. I’m still young, but I’ve been through a lot and will for sure help them out."

You get older and older. The career flies kind of. Now I’m 26. You’re really targeting the Stanley Cup. You don’t want to be over 30 and just chasing it. So that’s the biggest goal for everybody, for every NHL player, and you can’t take anything for granted. With the Predators, we were in the Final, that was five years ago now, and you were like, ‘All right, next year then.’ And where have you been the last five years? I didn’t make the playoffs, out first round, out first round, out first round.

So that’s what I saw in [Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan] MacKinnon last season. He goes 100 percent, doesn’t take anything for granted because next year maybe you never know. You might be last. So when you get the chance, you have to take it. When you have a good team, that year you have to take it. We’re going to start the season now soon and let’s see where we are and then go from there.