At the trade deadline in 2019, the Nashville Predators sent young winger Kevin Fiala, whose performance was painfully inconsistent, to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a known quantity in fellow winger Mikael Granlund. At the time of the trade, the consensus was that Granlund was, probably, already the player we only hoped Fiala would become. It was reasonable to assume that Granlund’s disappointing end to the 2019 season was about adjusting to new teammates and new systems.
Unfortunately, the new season did not bring improvements. Granlund, formerly a reliable 60-point player for Minnesota, put together a 30-point season for Nashville in 63 games played (a 35-point pace over a full season, although he missed six games in the fall).