Fiala is -10

[VCRW]

No other forward on the Kings who plays a regular shift is a minus player. Fiala is -10 on a good (according to their record) defensive team.

Why does Hiller rely on a player who constantly hurts the team with his boneheaded plays? He is the most questionable player to double shift on the PP as Fiala is often the oppositions’s best penalty killer.

Truth is, Fiala has lower hockey IQ than bench he sits on.

 

[jammer06]

He's been the leading forward in ice time the last few games as well. I'm really hoping there's a plan here.

 

[DRice]

He's been the leading forward in ice time the last few games as well. I'm really hoping there's a plan here.

to the highest bidder!

 

[Hipcheck]

Hf boards proposed a Fiala for Kreider trade…. Sign me up!

 

[Surf Nutz]

teams know he is going to fake a pass or shot try to generate space then off load.

he has been scouted.

the solution is he he needs to off load the puck quickly and get open or go to the net

 

[DRice]

They need to get him off the point on the power play. You're just asking for a shorthander against! Or at the very least an offensive zone penalty.

 

[Surf Nutz]

They need to get him off the point on the power play. You're just asking for a shorthander against! Or a offensive zone penalty.

They have little choice he is not good along the boards or in a puck battle of any kind.

He is slotted correctly.

DD needs to pair on PP with him and be ready to cover.

Spence does it on PP2

 

[VCRW]

On the other side, Juice leads the team at +19. That’s an huge disparity! Jeez… even Moore, QB, Danault and Jeannot have become plus players. It’s only Fiala who is on the wrong side. His stats are such an anomaly that it points to serious problem in this guy’s buy-in to playing for the team first, and himself second

 

[DarkLeftHand]

I’m glad to see this discussion is gaining traction. Sometime within the last 10 or so game day threads, I posted a fairly scathing review regarding, what I perceive to be, an extreme lack of hockey awareness on Fiala’s part. Something to the effect of, I’ve never seen such a skilled hockey player makes such terrible hockey decisions. I tried to dig it back up so I could just copy and paste but the gist is.. terrible board play, soft pass when it should be a hard pass, hard pass when it should be a soft pass, terrible awareness on the point during PP, a penchant for causing line mates to be offside with an ill timed dangle on o zone entry. To further exacerbate things, he’s clearly on the referee sh*t list. The bottom line is, if this guy is not scoring regularly on the PowerPlay, that -10 is absolutely unforgivable on this team.

 

[TooCool]

JMFJ is -7 only, for those wondering.

 

[santiclaws]

He's been better with not taking offensive zone penalties every game and his turnovers have mostly not been of the absolutely horrendous variety. That said, ugh. He's really fighting it; he's playing worse than at any point during his Kings tenure. But even if the Kings want to trade him there are two big issues:

1. He's got a full NMC.
2. His value is at an all-time low.

Despite his awful play, he's still on pace for about 30 goals, so clearly the talent is there. He has been better, he has been a lot better, and he is only 28. Hopefully he will rediscover his game. Soon. The Kings need him desperately or they will continue scoring 1 goal per game.

Moore hasn't been much better, if he's been better at all. He's having a horrible season too. Basically useless.

 

[DryKing]

He is a player who makes a lot of high risk, potentially high reward plays. Unfortunately it hasn't been bouncing his way this season. It would be nice if he focused on playing it a bit more safe for awhile.

He has shown some amazing defensive effort from time to time, though, so there is zero doubt he has bought into the system. Problem is, he does not fit the system but that may also be why he is such a vital part of the team. We have very few creative players and Fiala is one of them.

I do agree with others who stated he has shown a low hockey IQ. He needs to do a better job of realizing when to take the risk and when to play it safe (such as while playing on the point during a PP). For a player who was so unpredictable that line-mates couldn't tell when to expect a pass, he sure has become predictable to the other team...

 

[Hipcheck]

the talent of palffy with the hockey iq and impulse control of Sean Avery.

 

[JETS GARAGE]

Shoot the puck and look for rebounds.

 

[DarkLeftHand]

the talent of palffy with the hockey iq and impulse control of Sean Avery.

This is a pretty accurate description.

 

[DarkLeftHand]

Shoot the puck and look for rebounds.

I think, to some degree, the coaching staff should be directing him in this manner. Minimal puck handling or looking for cute plays. Find the open spot, receive the pass, do your little pull and drag wrist shot to the upper corner. Hiller needs to make this guy watch several hundred hours of Adrian Kempe playing hockey.

 

[LAKingSteve]

They apparently continue to think that his defensive downside is worth any potential offensive upside. He is still second on the team in goals. OR, they just don't have any other options with him right now other than to let Kev play.

 

[Kurisu]

I'll just add that this semi-recent development is pretty disheartening, because for a while he seemed like our most exciting skill player since Palffy. The carrying the puck into no-mans-land seems to define his game these days.

 

[Surf Nutz]

I think, to some degree, the coaching staff should be directing him in this manner. Minimal puck handling or looking for cute plays. Find the open spot, receive the pass, do your little pull and drag wrist shot to the upper corner. Hiller needs to make this guy watch several hundred hours of Adrian Kempe playing hockey.

Kempe plays north south and F is east west.

the coaches are using him correctly.

teams are on to his hold up play so he needs to adjust and find the open man or shoot quicker.

they are anticipating his deke every time

 

[orpheus]

Only?