Kevin Fiala ruled out for remainder of 2025-26 regular season, to be re-evaluated after regular season concludes
A gutting end to the 2026 Winter Olympics for LA Kings forward Kevin Fiala, who underwent surgery in Milan, after he suffered a lower-leg injury during Team Switzerland’s 5-1 loss to Team Canada on Friday. Fiala went down after a collision along the boards and ultimately needed to be stretchered off the ice. He was taken to a local hospital following the game and it was announced by the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation later in the day that Fiala was ruled out for the remainder of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Can now confirm that after Fiala’s surgery yesterday, he has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2025-26 regular season, a massive blow for all involved, mainly for Fiala himself, but certainly for the Kings and Team Switzerland as well.
From a team statement earlier today –
“Forward Kevin Fiala underwent successful surgery to repair fractures in his left lower leg. Kevin is resting comfortably and will begin the recovery and rehabilitation program.
Fiala will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 NHL regular season and will be reevaluated at the conclusion of the regular season.”
Worth noting that Fiala was ruled out for the regular season only at this time, which leaves open the possibility that he could potentially return if the Kings qualified for the playoffs. Not sure the likeliness of that happening, but the distinction was not accidental. At the very least, if the Kings qualify for the postseason and potentially go on a run, Fiala will be re-evaluated in his recovery process to see if there is any chance he could return in the playoffs.
On a personal note – I said this when the injury first happened but it’s hard to start anywhere else – just a massive blow for Fiala. Sucks. He was so excited to be able to represent Switzerland in this tournament and takes so much pride in playing on the international stage. He did his best to temper his own expectations going in for a smaller nation but there was so much passion and excitement as he departed for Milan. This was Fiala’s first opportunity to play in a best-on-best international tournament, after winning a pair of silver medals at the IIHF World Championships in 2024 and 2025, including a Tournament MVP performance in 2024. To see the remainder of his tournament taken away is gutting to see, not to mention the end of his regular season with the Kings.
From the perspective of the LA Kings, it’s certainly a massive blow. Fiala is one of the team’s most prolific offensive players and he currently ranks second on the team in both goals and points at the Olympic break. The Kings have only scored 146 goals this season as a team, tied for the second-fewest in the NHL. So, subtracting their second-leading goalscorer certainly does not help. The recent addition of forward Artemi Panarin certainly boosts the team offensively but the hope was that both Panarin and Fiala would be in the lineup, adding another offensive gamebreaker into the mix. With Fiala not available, it certainly changes that plan. The Kings would’ve made the Panarin trade either way, considering his willingness to sign the two-year contract extension that came along with it, but having Fiala, Panarin and Adrian Kempe as the team’s top three options on the wing was very exciting. That’s among the best trios in the NHL at that position, as it will be for the Kings again next season, when all three players are still signed and under contract, once Fiala returns from injury. For now, though, it is definitely a blow for a Kings team that was excited about the options at their disposal coming out of the break.
As it pertains to what General Manager Ken Holland and the organization might do going forward, there is certainly enough room to work with should he work to add another piece into the mix up front. I thought the Kings might continue to look to bolster their options up front anyways, with the Kuemper/Forsberg tandem in goal feeling solid and Holland saying directly that he did not plan to make any changes to his primary group of six defensemen. While the preference in that scenario would’ve been to add onto a group that included Fiala, the Kings now have an additional $7,875,000 in cap space to work with this season. With another salary-cap increase to come and the retirement of captain Anze Kopitar, it gives the team ample space to utilize next season, with Fiala back in the mix. Even under the old CBA, this wouldn’t have been a situation where the Kings could have used an injury to manipulate the salary cap, since Fiala won’t return this season, so it’s just a situation where the team now has more room to work with, with Fiala a candidate to be placed on injured reserve or LTIR once the team resumes play later this month, if needed. Assuming both Mikey Anderson and Alex Turcotte are good to go, the Kings could still add just about any player in the league and make it work cap-wise the rest of the way. It’s no real consolation in losing one of your most dynamic offensive players, but that’s the situation the Kings are in.
Will offer a recap of the group stage of the Olympics tomorrow, once everyone concludes their final games, but forwards Adrian Kempe and Joel Armia both opened their accounts for the tournament with goals over the last couple days. Armia scored a shorthanded goal in a win over Kempe and Sweden yesterday, while Kempe hammered home a power-play goal today as a part of a multi-point game in a win over Slovakia. Kempe and Team Sweden are headed for the qualification playoffs, meaning a single-elimination game to reach the quarterfinals, while Armia and Finland will secure the final bye to the quarterfinals based on point total and goal differential. Full recap to follow.
For today, wishing Kevin Fiala a smooth and fast recovery process, at least as much as his injury allows for. Sure it will be a tough couple of days for him and his family, so sending all of the best wishes their way as they navigate a difficult end to what was such an exciting time at the Olympics. Sounds like he is in good spirits from his post on Instagram and hope that continues as he works his way back to full health.
