INSIDER: The Latest on Kevin Fiala, After Today's Kings Practice

Developments, Insiders!

The biggest of which was today’s deployment of forward Kevin Fiala. Fiala skated a regular shift on a line with Quinton Byfield and Corey Perry, while forward Trevor Moore moved down onto a line with Kenny Connors and Erik Haula. Fiala was in that spot for the entirety of practice.

Additionally, Mats Zuccarello seemed to take a good chunk of the repetitions with a regular line, though it was not with Byfield and Fiala, as you might have expected. Zuccarello skated with Scott Laughton and Joel Armia throughout the bulk of practice, though there was more rotation in with this line.

There is honestly a lot to unpack there, but for starters, here is how the team looked during today’s practice –

Defenseman Erik Gustafsson was not on the ice with the group today, so the Kings had 15 forwards and six defensemen in total. Forward Martin Chromiak was assigned to the AHL yesterday, so he was naturally not with the group.

Per Peter Laviolette, Gustafsson is “day-to-day” right now, so his availability for tomorrow is at least in question. One to circle back on in 24 hours. Without him, the Kings used the alignment on the blueline we saw last season. Joel Edmundson moved into Gustafsson’s spot with Clarke, while Mikey Anderson moved back with Drew Doughty and Brian Dumoulin played with Cody Ceci. Those are the only six defensemen on the roster right now, so if Gustafsson does miss any time, the Kings could potentially have to look towards the Ontario Reign for reinforcements.

Up front was where the waves were, though.

With Fiala, he’s been in a week-to-week mode for a long time. It’s one of those things where he’s been out for so long that you almost just think of him as being out long term. The reality is, he’s making progress and he’s steadily getting closer. It might be tomorrow, it might not. Could definitely happen on this homestand. Finally feels like an end in sight, just a matter of how close it actually is. It’s kind of crazy, when you think about it, that we’ve still never seen Fiala and forward Artemi Panarin in the same Kings lineup. Really is staggering, isn’t it?

Today was positive, no doubt, but I would also say it is far from a certainty that he plays tomorrow. Here’s Peter Laviolette on that question –

“Right now, I can’t say that,” Laviolette said today, when speaking about Fiala’s availability for tomorrow. “He’s still moving and making progress towards a return. At some point, you have to leave the14th or 15th forward [role] and you have to get involved in the drills. So, for me, this was more of a progression to get him into the mix on the 5-on-5 drills, get him to be a regular, get him involved in all aspects of what we were doing at practice. There’s a game tomorrow, so you’re trying to manage a game, you’re trying to manage being ready tomorrow and I’m also trying to manage entry, at some point, of players back into the lineup.”

Today’s practice saw Fiala, as noted, with Byfield and Perry. Laviolette brought up an interesting point, which is one I think has to be brought up when it specifically comes to Fiala’s return. Obviously, a 100 percent healthy Fiala is a top-six forward for the Kings. But should he be immediately thrust into that role in his first game back, with the 18-20 minutes that come along with it?

Skill-wise isn’t the issue. It’s how much you want to throw a player in to the deep end, when he hasn’t played a game since February, with two procedures in between now and then. I think it’s justified caution. When he’s fully up to speed, Fiala should be playing a big role for the Kings. To simply assume he’s ready for that, when you really can’t replicate game situations, might not be the right approach. That’s how the Kings are trying to balance things.

“I think that’ll depend on a game plan on entry. If you’re talking about a limited role and a limited amount of minutes, then that might not be the perfect spot. I think through conversations, whenever that time is, about an entry with a player that’s been out for a long time after a serious injury, I think there’s conversations about the plan back in. It’ll be more about the conversations that I have moving forward as to whether or not he jumps into a role where there’s 18 to 20 minutes or whether you control the minutes a little bit more.”

The Kings shouldn’t be looking to Fiala as a season savior. They certainly need players who bring what Fiala does, but it’s important to remain grounded that Fiala hasn’t played a game in what is approaching nine months. He had a major injury, one that sometimes sees players need to play their way back into form from. I think it’s important to try and shift the pressure off of Fiala when he does come back, which is tricky for a team with five wins in 15 games, in need of goals and points in the standings. Fiala can deliver both. But it’s important that his first game back is the start of his overall ascent, not a case of too much, too soon.

Throughout the process, Fiala has remained as positive as he can, in Laviolette’s eyes. I thought this quote was pretty extensive and worth sharing in full. Fiala has put a lot into getting to this point. He’s clearly close, reaching that final step from a practice standpoint, which is a full participant, on a regular line, with full contact. He’s now reached that checkpoint.

“Like I’ve said, this wasn’t just your two-week injury, where you see a player back in 15 days. This was extensive. Kevin’s a really positive person, I think he comes to the rink to get better every day. Sometimes that means better on the ice and sometimes that means better with your health. I do think that he’s attacked it on the ice and sometimes in that training room, there’s ups and downs, there’s peaks and valleys and you’ve got to get through both, whether you’re in the lineup or out of the lineup. I think he’s done a really good job inside of a tough situation and a tough injury of him in those peaks and valleys. He works extremely hard to prepare himself for the ice or to prepare himself to come back into the lineup. So, there’s a lot of credit that goes to him for that. I’m sure he’s excited that he’s making progress. He’s left the morning skates by himself. He’s left the red jersey. He’s left being the extra forward. He’s taken steps to continue to work to try and get back into the lineup. So, I think, his positive attitude has been a benefit to him and his journey back to the ice and back to playing games.”

So that’s the latest on Fiala.

Let’s see what morning skate tomorrow looks like.

With Zuccarello, from what I have heard, his status always felt like it was a bit further down the road than Fiala.

Zuccarello is currently in his third spell of missed action this season. He missed time during training camp and missed games in between two stretches of three games in the lineup. With Zuccarello, I think that it is important he is back at 100 percent. Going through three-game stretches isn’t helping anyone. So, with his situation, I think that caution will be – and should be – exercised beyond what his practice participation says. I could be wrong and maybe he’s where he needs to be, or close to. The sense I’ve gotten, though, is that the Kings won’t rush him in any way. They need Zuccarello back at the level he brought last season and they’ll wait to do so, if necessary.

Kings versus Predators tomorrow.

Lots to look out for on the personnel front and it starts with Fiala’s availability. It’s not something we should plan for or expect. If it happens, it’ll be an exciting benefit. If not, he’s cleared just about every hurdle in front of him, with lots of games to come in short order.