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

[Osprey]

Pretty common. Some that come to mind off the top of my head:
- Giroux
- Tage Thompson
- Draisaitl
- Zetterberg
- Hertl
- Petey
- Aho
- Pavelski
- Kuznetsov
- Jamie Benn
- Zibanejad
- Larkin

All played plenty of wing in their earlier seasons. Most of them flipped back and forth between C and W in their early years, similar to Byfield, but spent lots of time on the wing.

Half of those were drafted as wingers and eventually converted to center, which I don't think is very relevant to Byfield. Draisaitl and Pavelski seem like good examples that he could follow, though. I'm still not sure that it's a common path for #1 centers, but thanks.

 

[JTeller97]

Give this kid a couple of offseasons and some more confidence and he'll come good on a lot of his potential. Any of the concerns about him not being able to manufacture offense on the cycle, lack of willingness to engage physically, lack of IQ, and laziness, are all being diminished with every game he plays. Kings have a tendency of engraining the details of the game in their prospects which often mitigates their offensive output in the early going which can be seen with the likes of Kempe and Vilardi. It can be frustrating at times but it's a low and slow approach and though he isn't lighting it up for your fantasy hockey team, he's been a very valuable contributor on the first line of a team that's #7 in the league in winning %. Not to mention he's been significantly hindered with his development time with a broken ankle last season as well as a serious illness to start this season. Be patient people and enjoy this 20 year old kid blossom into one of the best pure athletes this game will have to offer.

 

[Kalv]

Someone should probably let this kid know he is 6'5 and 220lbs. If you're going to be a consistent producer in the NHL you need to be assertive in the offensive zone. Definitely that means different things for different players. For Byfield that should be using his skating and his size to get to pucks and hang on to them in the corners. Fight for space in front and make the opponent bend to your will. I hate when people say "well that's not his game", so what? Make it your game. Kopitar might not have a big mean streak but he definitely knows how to be assertive on the ice.

There's not a lot of guys who can kind of keep doing what they were doing in junior and have pro success. Not a lot but a few. Byfield isn't one of them. His game has to evolve beyond just being bigger and faster than everybody else, because that's no longer the case. From my viewings he doesn't have elite vision or IQ(not that they are bad either) but if he were able to get the most out of his tools I still think there is a beast player in there. If he ever realizes he's just a better athlete than most and how to beat teams with that I'd look out.

This was my question mark with him as well. As a Ducks fan, I've seen it with the prospect benefiting from being bigger or faster than others (Ritchie, Etem) but coming up short in the NHL. Byfield, while huge and fast, kind of had the same vibe for me. Plays he was creating in junior didn't seem to be translatable to the NH:

That doesn't mean he cannot put it together, he absolutely still can. I hope he does (as a Ducks fan, I hope it's somewhere else than LA ) but I remember being relieved when LA went for Byfield instead of Stutzle.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Fans are so quick to judge and make proclamations about players.

Just because Stützle is doing well, doesn’t mean Lafreniere, or Byfield can’t eventually too.

Is it a generation thing? What happened to patience with prospects, or everything in general? If you have actually watched Byfield it is clear that he has progressed quite well since his draft. If he is 24/25 and is still disappointing, then yeah. Flame away. but Byfield hasn’t even turned 21 yet!

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

I had to watch the Avalanche broadcast last night and I found it telling that one of the commentators said something along the lines of it being clear that Byfield had picked some things up from his last trip to the AHL. They seemed impressed compared to the last time they had seen him. (They also appropriately fawned over Jordan Spence, but that's for another thread.)

 

[yianik]

LA fans should know better. Vilardi is putting it together in his 6th year after being drafted.

 

[Akrapovince]

LA fans should know better. Vilardi is putting it together in his 6th year after being drafted.

LA fans know better.

It’s the Ottawa fans gloating and Eastern fans that haven’t watched Byfield play from juniors or even now.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

5 game point streak, so process is turning into results

 

[Akrapovince]

5 game point streak, so process is turning into results

How’s his motor been looking? That’s one thing I haven’t really had an extensive look at.

I can’t really tell because of how well he skates. Usually players that are gifted with a smooth stride tend to look lackadaisical.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

How’s his motor been looking? That’s one thing I haven’t really had an extensive look at.

I can’t really tell because of how well he skates. Usually players that are gifted with a smooth stride tend to look lackadaisical.

He looks like he's churning, he's not one of those dudes like Kopitar with the slow smooth stride.

His top speed is absolutely bonkers but he could def work on his first few steps explosiveness. Those separation steps are going to be vital for him. But I also wonder how much had to do with a broken ankle and major illness.

 

[93LEAFS]

Half of those were drafted as wingers and eventually converted to center, which I don't think is very relevant to Byfield. Draisaitl and Pavelski seem like good examples that he could follow, though. I'm still not sure that it's a common path for #1 centers, but thanks.

Not that uncommon to use high-end center prospects as wingers. MacKinnon was generally played with Landeskog and one of Statsney or ROR as a rookie. Then his down years from his calder season to when he exploded was partially due to adjusting to playing center at the NHL level, and Colorado not being particularly good. The only centers in recent memory who walked out of the NHL draft and right into a top 6 center role (and played at that level) have been McDavid, Matthews, and Eichel.

Although, I will say in Byfield's case I thought his skating, size and reach, likely made him a strong candidate for the wing depending on where you stood on his hockey IQ.

 

[Dominance]

He has been making a lot more of the important little plays along the boards and in the corners with his size, but still looks like he has a TON more to give in that area. Scary thought!

 

[johnjm22]

Further showing how good that line has been.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Shot and release has to be the focus this offseason



He's got a bomb it just takes far too long to get it off. part of that is probably release, part is thinking too much.

 

[johnjm22]

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I want two minutes of my time back.

 

[SenzZen]

Hes incredible at protecting the puck but still making some very questionable decisions with the puck at times.

Hopefully that improves with time. Having this kind of guy working the corners on a line with McDavid if a best on best world tournament ever happens would be cool if he can figure out his decision making

I see what you mean, and noticed the same questionable attempts- but I'd much rather have a guy trying to make those plays and learning from the mistakes than smothering any creativity. So kudos to the Kings on that.

 

[Akrapovince]

Hes incredible at protecting the puck but still making some very questionable decisions with the puck at times.

Hopefully that improves with time. Having this kind of guy working the corners on a line with McDavid if a best on best world tournament ever happens would be cool if he can figure out his decision making

Making questionable decisions right now is good. It means he’s ironing out his game.

Stützle makes quite a few questionable decisions, but he doesn’t make them again. It’s been really evident on the penalty kill, he’s finding the right mix of attacking and defending on the man down. At first he was doing too much and we were getting scored on, but he needed to know what works.

All the mistakes help Byfield just as much as things goes right in terms of development if not more so- which is why he’s done a great job despite being on a very structured, veteran team playing with not much rope.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Weird video, left out a lot of his physical work and the little passes that go a long way

No doubt some people will latch onto that

But the point stands I guess, work very much in progress, I think his 'questionable decisions' and random fumbles are WAY down though that clip would have you believe otherwise, there's a reason he's near PPG over the last stretch, he's holding the puck more, reverse hitting people, realizing he's bigger and faster with more reach than most, and being assertive with everything but shooting.

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Weird video, left out a lot of his physical work and the little passes that go a long way

No doubt some people will latch onto that

But the point stands I guess, work very much in progress, I think his 'questionable decisions' and random fumbles are WAY down though that clip would have you believe otherwise, there's a reason he's near PPG over the last stretch, he's holding the puck more, reverse hitting people, realizing he's bigger and faster with more reach than most, and being assertive with everything but shooting.

When I watched the clip, first thing I thought was that he was very physical. Doesnt pass up on chances to nail guys into the board esp. after the puck has been moved out by a defender.

But it does look like he has absolutely no touch on his passes in that clip.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

When I watched the clip, first thing I thought was that he was very physical. Doesnt pass up on chances to nail guys into the board esp. after the puck has been moved out by a defender.

But it does look like he has absolutely no touch on his passes in that clip.

That was very much the case when he first came about

it's been much much better lately. Last night he clearly had some flubs but that's the area of his game that's the most cleaned up lately so it was strange to see that video highlight them so much

I think he's seeing the rewards of his physical play and it's making him more confident and building on it--he's a FAST huge dude with huge reach so he's on people quicker than they ever expect and it causes turnovers and creates space when he bulldozes them out of the play. This is the most space Kopitar has had to work with since prime Brown, and it allows Kempe to skate, too. Usually he's the one making that play and executing the play-starting pass. But what's most exciting is he takes all the 'feedback' from these plays and adds it to his repertoire next game, he was a slow study last year but the last 10 weeks he's been an absolute sponge

 

[KapG]

Hes incredible at protecting the puck but still making some very questionable decisions with the puck at times.

Hopefully that improves with time. Having this kind of guy working the corners on a line with McDavid if a best on best world tournament ever happens would be cool if he can figure out his decision making

Man, he’s still soooooooooo young.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Ehhh its certainly not a good thing if that's a continued issue. You never "want" to keep seeing bad plays with the puck.

As I said, hopefully it improves with time

You are overstating the volume of 'bad plays.'

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

There were quite a few bad turnovers in that video, but as I've said earlier in the thread I haven't seen many Kings games as of late so maybe that's not the norm.

His puck puck protection skills have vastly improved from last season though, so that's a very good sign

It's definitely not the norm over the last month or so, and that video had a weird focus on them before shifting to the 'good' stuff. Those were very emblematic of what was going on earlier in the year, though. The growth is incredible.

Last 10 games are suddenly at a 73 point pace, though, and that's exciting because it's still only happening in flashes as you can see from that video, he's putting it together a little bit more at a time.

I do expect this playoffs to be a learning experience for him, though.