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

[FrozenKing18]

I feel like the expectations are a little too high for where Byfield should be right now. It is understandable being in the company of one of the best 2-Way players of all time in Kopitar for a near 2 decades. It’s hard not to compare them seeing as Byfield is next in line for that top C spot. Byfield isn’t Kopitar. He’s not as talented as Kopi was, and Kopi was a freak of an athlete until recently. I think some of the doubters are dismissing the fact that he is 22 years old and young enough to make adjustments and improvement on his game. I can understand if he was 27 years old and still plays the way he plays. Like others have mentioned, consistency is key. If he can work on his shot and bury them and figure out that he can absolutely truck people out there.. we have ourselves one hell of a player.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

The last 6 games are proof that Byfield can score at a literal 137 point pace with an 85% GF percentage while playing C, getting regular PK duty, barely touching PP2, and getting amongst the hardest zone starts amongst Kings forwards and people will look for cracks in his game

Yes it's a small sample size, but the point is in February you need to look for a different punching bag

yep

I feel like the expectations are a little too high for where Byfield should be right now. It is understandable being in the company of one of the best 2-Way players of all time in Kopitar for a near 2 decades. It’s hard not to compare them seeing as Byfield is next in line for that top C spot. Byfield isn’t Kopitar. He’s not as talented as Kopi was, and Kopi was a freak of an athlete until recently. I think some of the doubters are dismissing the fact that he is 22 years old and young enough to make adjustments and improvement on his game. I can understand if he was 27 years old and still plays the way he plays. Like others have mentioned, consistency is key. If he can work on his shot and bury them and figure out that he can absolutely truck people out there.. we have ourselves one hell of a player.

yep

 

[NikF]

I don't think Byfield is less talented than Kopitar. He's a better skater and his "final pass" is probably more creative than Kopitar's. He hasn't been a great shooter and his confidence isn't where it should be. Kopitar figured out his game earlier than Byfield did. I'm not even sure Byfield has a good sense of what makes him effective yet and is still in process of finding it out by trial and error. Something which was probably delayed by the Kings highly conservative developmental choices, because Byfield looks like someone who will improve the more tough reps he gets against top players and the Kings do their best to let players settle into checking or limited roles before ever offering them prime minutes. To be fair when Kopitar came over, his main competition for the #1 center job was who? Derek Armstrong and Craig Conroy?

 

[FrozenKing18]

Yes, it’s not fair to say Byfield isn’t less talented than Kopitar. Wrong for me to say. You also make a great point that when Kopi came in, it was Conroy and Armstrong who he had to beat. With Byfield, its Kopitar and Danault, elite 2-way duo. To restructure my point, there’s a lot of factors that’s inhibiting Byfield’s current development. We can’t dismiss them. All we got to do is be patient until he goes through his second break out and become the player we all know he can be.