Reactions – Kevin Fiala to represent Kings at 1st All-Star Game + New Fan Voting Process

Happy Friday, Insiders!

Sharing a bit more detail on an announcement from last night, which is that forward Kevin Fiala will be the team’s representative at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game, to be held in Sunrise, Florida.

Fiala has never appeared in an All-Star game before and certainly didn’t pick a bad city to attend his first. The Kings finish their pre-All-Star schedule in the Southeast, in Carolina, so travel will be that much easier for Fiala, who should get a couple more days in Florida out of the ordeal. As the team’s leading scorer this season, with one point shy of 40, Fiala was the natural selection. He’s been a seamless fit offensively for a Kings team that was in need of gamebreaking, offensive ability. Fiala has fit that bill – and then some – through 41 games with the organization.

“It feels good, it’s the first time and I’m excited for it,” Fiala said yesterday after the game. “Of course it feels nice to go for the first time, I’m excited for that part, though it would have been way nicer if we had gotten the win [last night].”

Kings Head Coach Todd McLellan has probably been asked more about Fiala than any other player this season. And rightfully so. Fiala was the team’s big-ticket acquisition in the offseason and he leads the team in scoring through 42 games played.

It’s been a bit of a process to find the correct fit for Fiala, but independent of linemates, he’s found ways to produce offensively, often producing more when placed lower in the lineup. He’s provided all that’s been advertised so far, something that McLellan noted last night.

“First of all, we’re fortunate to have him,” McLellan said. “He brings a dynamic that’s a little bit different from a lot of the ingredients that we have on our team. We brought in, the year prior, a bunch of trusting players that were and still are very good. Kevin’s a little bit more of a gambler and that’s what makes it a little bit different. When he’s going, which is most nights, he’s dangerous and we’re fortunate to have his offensive instincts, his playmaking, his competitiveness. We’re all happy for him and excited.”

Sharing the below information from the official Kings release –

Today’s announcement marks the first All-Star Game selection for Fiala, who leads the Kings in multiple statistics, including points (39), assists (29), even-strength points (27), power-play points (12), multi-point games (11), points-per-game (0.95), overtime goals (1) and shots (119). The 26-year-old becomes the sixth different Kings player named to represent the Kings in the last ten NHL All-Star Games, joining current teammates Drew Doughty (2015, 2016, 2017^, 2018, 2019), Adrian Kempe (2022), Anze Kopitar (2011, 2015, 2018, 2020) and Jonathan Quick (2016, 2018*).

Acquired by the Kings this past offseason from the Minnesota Wild, Fiala signed a seven-year contract on June 30 carrying an average annual value of $7.875 million. In his first season with the club, the 5-10, 204-pound forward has registered 39 points (10-29=39) in 41 games, with his 29 assists ranking sixth in the league among forwards. On Nov. 14, the St. Gallen, Switzerland native registered his 300th career point to become just the fifth Swiss-born skater in NHL history to reach such mark. In addition, he currently sits one point shy of the 40-point plateau, which would mark his fourth consecutive 40-point season and fifth of his career for the third-most among Swiss-born players (Roman Josi – 8, Mark Streit – 6).

Through nine NHL seasons, the former first-round selection (11th overall, Nashville) in the 2014 NHL Draft has registered 322 points (134-188=322) in 460 appearances with the Kings, Wild and Nashville Predators. Since the 2021-22 season, his 94 even-strength points in 123 games rank seventh-best in the league while his 124 points (43-81=124) pace all Kings skaters.

⭐️ FIALALAND ⭐️

Kevin Fiala is headed to the #NHLAllStar Game! pic.twitter.com/9ecAfHn61H

— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 6, 2023

While Fiala is now a lock, the Kings could still have additional players selected to the team, via a new fan-voting process.

Fans can vote for additional players to attend the NHL All-Star Game, with two skaters and one goaltender still to be added to the rosters for each division.

Under the new voting format, the 12 remaining players will be selected via a voting process. The voting began last night at midnight and will run through January 17 at 9:00 PM Pacific. In previous seasons, fan-elected captains were voted before hockey operations chose the remaining rosters (not limited to one player per team) and fans chose a final player (Last Men In) for each team.

For the first time, the fan vote will feature a Twitter Vote, which begins Jan. 12 at 12:01 a.m. ET and ends Jan. 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Each fan tweet must include the complete hashtag “#NHLAllStarVote” followed by a player’s full name or a player’s Twitter handle. Only referencing a last name will not count. All Twitter votes will be combined with online vote totals.

The full rosters for all four divisions are listed below –

Metropolitan Division (All-Star appearances)
F Sidney Crosby, PIT (5th)
F Johnny Gaudreau, CBJ (7th)
F Kevin Hayes, PHI (1st)
F Jack Hughes, NJD (2nd)
F Brock Nelson, NYI (1st)
F Alex Ovechkin, WSH (8th)
F Andrei Svechnikov, CAR (1st)
G Igor Shesterkin, NYR (1st)

Atlantic Division (All-Star appearances)
F Nikita Kucherov, TBL (4th)
F Dylan Larkin, DET (3rd)
F Mitchell Marner, TOR (2nd)
F Nick Suzuki, MTL (2nd)
F Tage Thompson, BUF (1st)
F Brady Tkachuk, OTT (3rd)
F Matthew Tkachuk, FLA (2nd)
G Linus Ullmark, BOS (1st)

Central Division (All-Star appearances)
F Kirill Kaprizov, MIN (2nd)
F Clayton Keller, ARI (3rd)
F Jason Robertson, DAL (1st)
F Vladimir Tarasenko, STL (4th)
D Seth Jones, CHI (4th)
D Cale Makar, COL (2nd)
D Josh Morrissey, WPG (1st)
G Juuse Saros, NSH (2nd)

Pacific Division (All-Star appearances)
F Matty Beniers, SEA (1st)
F Kevin Fiala, LAK (1st)
F Nazem Kadri, CGY (2nd)
F Connor McDavid, EDM (6th)
F Elias Pettersson, VAN (3rd)
F Troy Terry, ANA (2nd)
D Erik Karlsson, SJS (7th)
G Logan Thompson, VGK (1st)