Revisiting Kings’ Fiala Trade in Wake of Faber Extension

The Los Angeles Kings are not far removed from having one of the best prospect pools in hockey and the most stacked RHD pipeline in hockey.

Through trade or free agency, a lot of those players have left and one of them, Brock Faber, just signed one of the biggest extensions of the summer.

Faber was signed to an 8-year contract that carries an AAV of $8.5 million a year.

He was the Minnesota Wild‘s number one defenseman last season and got paid accordingly.

His Calder-worthy rookie season started the process of fans re-evaluating the trade that sent Faber to Minnesota and this contract has restarted that.

For those who forgot, the Kings sent Faber and a 2022 first round pick (Liam Ohgren) in exchange for Kevin Fiala.

Kings saw it as a home run after Fiala’s first season but have been questioning it after seeing Faber hit the ground running.

So, let’s compare them.

In Fiala you have an offensive first winger who’s led the team in scoring in the two seasons since he was acquired.

Faber’s a top-pairing defenseman who can play in all situations and posted just shy of 50 points last season.

Fiala’s also struggled to find a consistent home in LA, jumping around the middle six for the last two seasons.

He improved defensively in his second season but does get into penalty troubles at times.

Fiala’s playoff performances have been a mixed bag too. He was great in the three games he played two seasons ago with six points, but struggled last season with just two points in five games.

Long term, Faber likely won’t be a PP1 defensemen but proved he could do it last season. Still, his offensive upside isn’t too high without some huge steps in his game.

So, would you rather have a offensive winger who’s just shy of a point-per-game in the last two seasons, or a two-way, all situations defensemen.

Without context, the second player is probably more intriguing, especially if you get to keep a first-round pick in the process.

However, context is important. Faber wouldn’t be that player in LA. He would have been lucky to get top-four minutes last season behind Drew Doughty and Matt Roy and would be fighting with both Brand Clarke and Jordan Spence for those minutes this season.

That logjam was a big reason Faber was reluctant to sign in LA and a big reason he was one of the RHD’s that was traded.

Within the context that Faber wouldn’t be given the opportunity to shine in LA and the Kings’ need for some offensive pop, this trade is still solid value for LA.

Hindsight being 20-20 you want that first-round pick back, but you have to pay for proven NHL talent.

The Kings inability to get impact players out of their rebuild makes Faber’s ascension towards stardom sting and you could argue LA should have committed to a player like him, but that’s not a realistic ask.

Given the context of LA’s situation the trade for Fiala was still worth it despite Faber’s development.