Minnesota Wild create salary-cap space, send RFA forward Kevin Fiala, 25, to Los Angeles Kings

The Minnesota Wild traded restricted free agent forward Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for the Kings' 2022 first-round pick and University of Minnesota defenseman Brock Faber on Wednesday.

Fiala, 25, had 33 goals and 52 assists for the Wild in 82 games last season, posting a career best 3.5 points per 60 minutes average. The Swiss-born winger is entering his ninth NHL season, having spent four years with the Wild and five with the Nashville Predators. For his career, Fiala has 124 goals and 159 assists in 419 games.

The Wild sought to move Fiala due to a salary cap crunch. Minnesota bought out the contracts of forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter last summer. They had just over $4.7 million in dead cap space last season due to those buyouts; that dead cap space increases to over $12.7 million this season and then $14.7 million through 2025.

Fiala was an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent but is expected to ink a long-term extension with the Kings, according to an NHL source. He made $5.1 million against the cap last season on a one-year contract with Minnesota.

The Kings' selection in the first round is the 19th overall pick. The Wild also pick 24th overall.

Faber, 19, is a highly regarded defensive prospect who completed his sophomore season with the University of Minnesota. Faber also played four games in the 2022 Beijing Olympics with the U.S. men's national hockey team. Faber was drafted by the Kings in second round (45th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft.

The trade signals another aggressive move towards contention for the Kings, who made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2018 this season. They made a free-agent splash last summer with center Phillip Danault and are