Kevin Fiala is ready to rejoin the Los Angeles Kings, and the timing could hardly be better for a team searching for offense.
The Kings announced that Fiala will make his 2026-27 season debut on Thursday night when Los Angeles hosts the New York Islanders. It’s a long-awaited return for one of the club’s most dangerous scorers, who has been sidelined since a leg injury suffered while playing for Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
That injury required surgery and ended his 2025-26 season. It also kept him out of training camp and the opening month of the new year while he worked his way back.
For a Kings team that has had trouble putting the puck in the net, Fiala’s return lands at an important moment. Through 16 games, Los Angeles has scored 45 goals, which ranks 30th in the NHL. The Kings also carry a minus-10 goal differential, tied for 24th in the league.
Fiala has been a major part of the attack since arriving in Los Angeles in 2022. He put together back-to-back 70-point seasons, then followed that with 60 points in 81 games during the 2024-25 campaign. Before the Olympic break last season, he was tracking toward another 60-point year, with 18 goals and 40 points in 56 games.
Across his NHL career, the 30-year-old has played 707 regular-season games and produced 229 goals and 299 assists for 528 points. He has added 30 points in 49 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Fiala is now in the fifth season of the six-year contract extension he signed in June 2022. The deal carries an AAV of $7.875 million and includes a modified no-trade clause.
The Kings enter Thursday at 5-9-2, having dropped two straight. They sit seventh in the Pacific Division and are nine points behind the Utah Mammoth for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
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There is at least some help on the way, with Mathew Barzal and Matias Maccelli nearing returns as the group tries to steady itself. Calum Ritchie, though, is expected to be out longer, which keeps the roster picture from getting any cleaner. Between the returning bodies and the coaching adjustments needed to keep the push alive, the next few nights could tell a lot about whether the Islanders can keep hanging around. [Read more 🡒]