C Quinton Byfield (2020, 2nd, LAK) part IV

[King'sPawn]

He got hurt on a Matt Roy slapshot, might have played into it

Not really. He only got 2 minutes of ice time in the first. He got hit in the second (I think?)

 

[apocalypse]

Can't wait to get him with some high-end players then, he was out there with Dustin Brown and Carl Grundstrom for most of the night

Besides his power play time, he was on an island out there.

Put him on a line with Kempe and Iafallo.

 

[apocalypse]

Might be similar, I think it's just Byfield hunched skating style that makes it look even shorter.

Who cares what length his stick is. All that matters is the on-ice production.

 

[kilowatt]

Aaaand immediately given less than 10 minutes of ice time. What is wrong with these teams.

My best guess is that the team has a plan in place for introducing all prospects into the system, regardless of status or pedigree. As much as I complain about ice time management for the whole team, slow-rolling new prospects into the league isn't the worst idea. We never really know what guys are dealing with. Soreness, cramps, fatigue, a cold, whatever. Kaliyev's a great example: his average time on ice over the whole season is 12:39, but his last ten games he's averaged 13:22 and his first fifteen games he averaged only 12:10.

All of that is to say that I expect Byfield is here for the long haul, he won't see the AHL again (unless it's for a conditioning stint after an injury, knock on wood). It just might take a few games with LA's coaches at the helm. Byfield certainly looks ready though. It just doesn't help that he's centering two of our worst players right now in Brown and Grundstrom.

Put him on a line with Kempe and Iafallo.

I'd love to, of course, but all my lineups tend to predominantly feature our prospects. I'd roll out:

Kempe - Byfield - Vilardi
Iafallo - Kopitar - Kaliyev
Turcotte - Danault - Arvidsson
Lemieux - Lizotte - Moore

And then play all three lines about equal ice time at even strength. But that's just me

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Aaaand immediately given less than 10 minutes of ice time. What is wrong with these teams.

Don't get me started.

Well, you see, it was much more important for the future of this franchise that the 34-year-old who was 25% CF against his 170lb matchup and the 150lb friend he buys beer for got 20 minutes than it was that Byfield got 10...

 

[Mats26]

If Grundstrom is one of our worse players we are in good shape.
TOI for Grundy 10:04 ( U don't need to play 20 minutes a night to make an impact)

Wish just one of our forward prospects can put together a game he had. He threw a heavy check on Hughes, fought Bratt and scored the game winning goal. He is on pace to double his point production from last year and is scoring at a higher rate that any of our prospects including Kaliyev. He is an ideal player for the bottom 6 role. He should replace Kaliyev on the Lizotte line and move Arty with Danault-Arvidsson.

As far as ice time, the best player on the ice was Jesper Bratt, he had 14:48 of ice time, Kaliyev had 14:18 so it's not like all the kids are not getting ice time.

For me deployment and linemates is what I see is missing. Kaliyev and QB should get some PP time and new linemates. QB should play with Moore, he needs a solid 2 way guy on his wing with Kupari\Turcotte. We just have no room right now with Brown in the lineup to deploy what we want.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Don't get me started.

Well, you see, it was much more important for the future of this franchise that the 34-year-old who was 25% CF against his 170lb matchup and the 150lb friend he buys beer for got 20 minutes than it was that Byfield got 10...

I don't think McLellan is all that concerned at this stage about the "future of the franchise." He's concerned about winning games and keeping the Kings in the playoff hunt-which he is doing. The likes of Byfield will have their day in the sun in the near future.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I don't think McLellan is all that concerned at this stage about the "future of the franchise." He's concerned about winning games and keeping the Kings in the playoff hunt-which he is doing. The likes of Byfield will have their day in the sun in the near future.

But that's exactly the point--the icetime is all inverse with performance.

 

[Dominance]

Not even 9 minutes of ice time…this has to be some kind of joke. Anybody who’s ever played hockey at any kind of competitive level understands how it is nearly impossible to stay hot and intent and have a good feel for the puck with that kind of ice time over a 2.5 hour game.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

Not even 9 minutes of ice time…this has to be some kind of joke. Anybody who’s ever played hockey at any kind of competitive level understands how it is nearly impossible to stay hot and intent and have a good feel for the puck with that kind of ice time over a 2.5 hour game.

Really dont know what the kings are thinking right now... hopefully they either send him down or give him more of a chance to get comfortable

 

[Dominance]

Really dont know what the kings are thinking right now... hopefully they either send him down or give him more of a chance to get comfortable

At least they don’t have the track record of suppressing him for 100 straight games like the Rangers…but two of my favourite prospects in years are being brutally mismanaged and I’m starting to go insane seeing how good a guy like Boldy looks while being allowed to adjust his game to the NHL with immediate and persistent top-6 and PP1 usage.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

At least they don’t have the track record of suppressing him for 100 straight games like the Rangers…but two of my favourite prospects in years are being brutally mismanaged and I’m starting to go insane seeing how good a guy like Boldy looks while being allowed to adjust his game to the NHL with immediate and persistent top-6 and PP1 usage.

Ya I don’t mind being careful with a young player, but you still have to put him in situations to succeed… QB is a big kid he can handle himself I’m sure

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Nice goal in the shootout at least. Slick to watch him and Laf score b2b.



But yet another night of getting f***ed over by Kings' development. 8:32 of ice time so they could be sure Kopitar had front row seats while gassed to the game tying goal.

Overall: 64% CF (6.89 rel) and SCF, 87.5% HDCF% (42.05 rel).
Tonight: 80% CF (22.62 rel) and SCF, 100% HDCF (66.67 rel). Despite the LOWEST ozone start ratio on the team (33%). LOL. Same shit they did to vilardi, turcotte, et. al....put them in a position to fail by playing them with the worst players in the lineup and in the hardest zone starts, reduce their ice time when they don't score, bench them if they make a mistake, banish them to purgatory shortly thereafter. Good ol self-fulfilling prophecy at it again. What's the point in selke guys like Kopitar and Danault if you're not going to put scorers in a spot to score?

 

[Rob Brown]

Really bizarre. Can't imagine how frustrated Kings fans must be. Send the kid down if he isn't going to get a chance to play.

 

[Static]

Nasty shootout goal

 

[ScoreZeGoals]

Really dont know what the kings are thinking right now... hopefully they either send him down or give him more of a chance to get comfortable

Us Kings fans have no idea either, it's f***ing ridiculous

 

[Dominance]

Fantastic way to turn Byfield and Turcotte into middle-6 complementary players.

 

[apocalypse]

Really bizarre. Can't imagine how frustrated Kings fans must be. Send the kid down if he isn't going to get a chance to play.

An argument could be made that mgmt wants Byfield to get a taste of the NHL and what he needs to work on once he goes back down to the AHL. That would be my guess.

 

[Herby]

Fantastic way to turn Byfield and Turcotte into middle-6 complementary players.

The handling of both players went against traditional norms, lets see how it plays out.

Byfield is a fantastic talent but he is going to have to learn the NHL speed and what it takes to make plays at this level as well as deal with any culture shock. There is a reason most players taken where he was taken in the draft play in the NHL at 18. Byfield should have been in the NHL last year in a throw away year for the Kings learning these things in a low pressure situation where any lumps he took weren't magnified. He was physically ready, even if maybe he wasn't quite hockey ready when they would hve broke camp. Now the Kings are in a playoff race and the coach is leaning on his veterans (like all coaches do). Honestly, the spot he is in is probably as bad as you could hope for a rookie breaking in. If he is on a bottom feeder its a no pressure situation and if he is playing on a loaded team he is just asked to be a complimentary player and any mistakes he makes aren't going to hurt the team in the long run. The Kings are kind of in no-man's land with some of these young players, which is unfortunate. Also add in the fact that the Kings don't really have that many good wingers to make his life easier, he is going to asked to be the best player on his line because Kopitar and Danault are going to be 1C and 2C and get the only good wingers LA has.

Turcotte looked tiny and struggled with the physicality of Big Ten hockey in his D+1 and the Kings signed him after a kind of meh season and threw him to the wolves of pro hockey when he wasn't physically ready or hockey ready. He was ofcourse injured as many undersized teenagers expected to play a gritty sandpaper game would be playing pro hockey and his offense has lagged behind his peers most of whom were given the chance to dominate offensively at lower levels before jumping to pro hockey.

Rob Blake and Todd McClellan IMO have done no favors for either of these players, and you can throw Vilardi in there too. Byfield is just so naturally gifted that he probably fights through it and becomes an impact player but for the next 2 years he is going to struggle to get ice-time under this coach, he has shown time and time again he is going to lean on his veteran centers and Kopitar's contract doesn't expire until 2024.

 

[Reddawg]

Byfield was great in the shootout last night, nice to see him get that chance when it mattered.
Also, those super shiny Kings helmets are weird and distracting.

 

[KevSkillz4]

Lafrenière is overrated and Byfield is underrated.

 

[Wintersun]

Lafrenière is overrated and Byfield is underrated.

Both were extremely overrated coming into the draft.

 

[OneSniffTwoSniff]

Neither of them belong in the NHL

 

[JTeller97]

Neither of them belong in the NHL

Can't speak on Laf because I don't watch the Rags but QB definitively belongs in the show.

 

[57special]

Fantastic way to turn Byfield and Turcotte into middle-6 complementary players.

I never saw that much in Turcotte, but he should've stayed in college for another year, IMO. Byfield was always a long play, for me. Off the charts potential, but a guy you take your time with. He's like an extreme version of Boldy. Big but thin, gawky but skilled, injury problems.