GDT: 2024-25 season game 55 LA Kings vs Vegas Golden Knights @7:30pm 2/24/25

[Kingfan1967]

It really was his mustache.

If Fiala every grows that thing back, it's time for some old school hazing (full body shave)

 

[BigKing]

Moore has always been streaky. He had a horrible stretch last season but still finished with 31. Year before that? 10 in 59 games. Agree that he looked to have more jump and looked to be skating better. The two week break could be doing wonders for him.

Byfield likes to try silly shit. Fiala likes to try silly shit. Finding a partner for Fiala has been impossible but maybe Byfield is it. Would be nice if playing with Fiala unlocks Byfield's offensive game.

 

[johnjm22]

Fiala has a motor. Byfield or Turcotte might be the only centers that can keep up with him.

I also don't think it's a coincidence that Kempe looked better as soon as he got away from Kopitar. Adrian looked constantly dangerous in the 4N tournament, as soon as he's back with Kopitar his game looked neutered.

 

[bland]

Putting Fiala with Byfield has done wonders for both of them. They also looked deadly when Kempe was on the other wing. That should be the #1 line moving forward.

Byfield has twice as many points as Kopitar since the turn of the year.

If someone could convince him to quit the fancy stuff and play a strict power game, he could be unstoppable.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Loved the look of LA's new Super-Line...wow they are going to make Defenses heads spin and goaltenders to have many a Sleepless nights babbling to themselves about War wounds and sensical things like that there all the while bashing their heads against the wall

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

If someone could convince him to quit the fancy stuff and play a strict power game, he could be unstoppable.

Personally, I want him to keep trying the fancy stuff.

I understand it won't work all the time and could lead to turnovers/goals against, but the more he tries that stuff, the better he'll get with it.

He's a creative player with great puck skills, vision, and passing ability. Telling him to 'stop trying the fancy stuff' is basically like telling him to ignore his strengths. A huge part of the reason he was drafted 2nd overall was because of his playmaking ability. Let him be creative and make plays. If he's able to establish consistency in his creativity, that could be the difference between him being a ~60 point player and an ~80+ point player.

We complain about LA's lack of offense and creativity and then as soon as a player starts trying to be creative with the puck we want them to remove it from their game and keep it simple?

Nah... If Byfield is going to have a chance in becoming a 1C you can build around, he needs to be able to play freely and creatively.

 

[King'sPawn]

Byfield has twice as many points as Kopitar since the turn of the year.

If someone could convince him to quit the fancy stuff and play a strict power game, he could be unstoppable.

I disagree to a point. While he needs structure, part of the benefit of being skilled and young is to think outside the box in dealing with problems, which sometimes means doing fancy stuff.

He just needs to learn how to take smart, calculated risks, and he needs to grow in his confidence.

 

[bland]

Personally, I want him to keep trying the fancy stuff.

I understand it won't work all the time and could lead to turnovers/goals against, but the more he tries that stuff, the better he'll get with it.

He's a creative player with great puck skills, vision, and passing ability. Telling him to 'stop trying the fancy stuff' is basically like telling him to ignore his strengths. A huge part of the reason he was drafted 2nd overall was because of his playmaking ability. Let him be creative and make plays. If he's able to establish consistency in his creativity, that could be the difference between him being a ~60 point player and an ~80+ point player.

We complain about LA's lack of offense and creativity and then as soon as a player starts trying to be creative with the puck we want them to remove it from their game and keep it simple?

Nah... If Byfield is going to have a chance in becoming a 1C you can build around, he needs to be able to play freely and creatively.

Actually no, he does not possess "great" puck skills, vision, etc. He loses confidence for entire games at a time when something unnecessarily fancy doesn't work early on.

Byfield pushes the puck, he doesn't carry it well. His strengths are his ability to recover pucks using his tenacity, then using his speed and size to move the puck into dangerous areas with those gifts. His hands are the single biggest deficiency in his game.

The simpler he keeps things, the greater advantage he has over his opponents. When he tries to get tricky he almost always fails and gives away that advantage. He negates his own strengths far more often than being stopped by the opposition.

 

[GoldenBearHockey]

Actually no, he does not possess "great" puck skills, vision, etc. He loses confidence for entire games at a time when something unnecessarily fancy doesn't work early on.

Byfield pushes the puck, he doesn't carry it well. His strengths are his ability to recover pucks using his tenacity, then using his speed and size to move the puck into dangerous areas with those gifts. His hands are the single biggest deficiency in his game.

The simpler he keeps things, the greater advantage he has over his opponents. When he tries to get tricky he almost always fails and gives away that advantage. He negates his own strengths far more often than being stopped by the opposition.

100% disagree, first of all, at full speed, EVERYONE PUSHES THE PUCK....no one stick handles just to stick handle, and he has some amazing vision and hands, it comes in spurts, and he needs to get consistency that's about it.

 

[KopitarGOAT420]

Actually no, he does not possess "great" puck skills, vision, etc. He loses confidence for entire games at a time when something unnecessarily fancy doesn't work early on.

Byfield pushes the puck, he doesn't carry it well. His strengths are his ability to recover pucks using his tenacity, then using his speed and size to move the puck into dangerous areas with those gifts. His hands are the single biggest deficiency in his game.

The simpler he keeps things, the greater advantage he has over his opponents. When he tries to get tricky he almost always fails and gives away that advantage. He negates his own strengths far more often than being stopped by the opposition.

Disagree with most of this. You're right that Byfield's speed and tenacity are major strengths of his but I think you're wildly underestimating his passing/playmaking ability. Also, his hands are well above NHL average.

Consistency and confidence - those are the two biggest deficiencies in Byfield's game (mostly the former). Not surprising for a 22 year old player tbh.

All season long we've seen this guy FLYING through the neutral zone with the puck on his stick to gain entries. We've seen some very nifty stick handles and cuts with the puck on his stick to retain possession and create space in the o-zone. That assist on the Foegele goal last night was special. Sure seemed like elite vision to me.

The problem lies in consistency. We see these flashes of elite skill from Byfield and then it goes away for some time before we see it again. Which again, isn't necessarily surprising when talking about a young player - consistency is usually the hardest thing to establish in the NHL. He's going to be a hell of a player when he does establish a little more consistency in his game but the answer isn't to tell him to stop trying to make creative plays. The answer is to encourage him to keep taking risks so he can learn what he can and can't get away with at the NHL level. And so he gets more and more used to making those high level plays.