SettlementRichie10
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- May 6, 2012
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What’s up with Byfield?
- Thread starter nbwingsfan
- Start date
SeanMoneyHands
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- Apr 18, 2019
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Kopitar carried his ass last year and made Byfield look a lot better than he really is.
This sums it up well.
Never once called him a bad player or prospect, will probably still be a good 2nd line player.
It was the post saying he should have gone 1st overall, or that he had “unlimited potential” that were always wrong.
Herby
How could Blake have known?
Why are people getting angry at the "better athlete than hockey player" comment? This description has been used for plenty of prospects before, including players like Jack Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Matt Boldy. Having watched the vast majority of Byfield's NHL career, I think it is actually a fair and valid description of his playing style and one of the reasons he has struggled at center compared to playing on the wing. He relies more on his physical tools than on hockey sense. Plenty of players have had long NHL careers with a similar style, while others, who aren't great athletes or physical specimens, have had long careers with a game-sense-based approach.
People should be able to have this opinion of a player without slanderous replies implying they are a racist.
This is hyperbole, he did not "carry his ass" last year. I love Kopitar and think he's the most underrated player of the 21st century, but at 37 he is not carrying Byfield or anyone else, even in his prime Kopitar did not make his linemates into automatic 55 point players. Byfield contributed pretty solidly to that line last year, there are plenty of 2nd line players like Byfield that play on their teams 1st line.
People should be able to have this opinion of a player without slanderous replies implying they are a racist.
This is hyperbole, he did not "carry his ass" last year. I love Kopitar and think he's the most underrated player of the 21st century, but at 37 he is not carrying Byfield or anyone else, even in his prime Kopitar did not make his linemates into automatic 55 point players. Byfield contributed pretty solidly to that line last year, there are plenty of 2nd line players like Byfield that play on their teams 1st line.
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Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
The thing about Kopitar is people see 'numbers up' and assume 'better play' but really he's not remotely the player he used to be... the reason he's scoring more now is 1. he's finally released from his 200-foot all the time responsibility and #1 PK job, he's rarely touching the puck these days, much less carrying it end to end and 2. It's simply a higher scoring era. His minutes are down and he's an elite player with elite IQ and great hands but hes absolutely not carrying play.
He was hitting the wall hard last year until Byfield got next to him. AT WORST it was a perfect symbiotic relationship.
Care to elaborate as to why he’s producing about as well as the LA legend PLD produced last season?
Or just going to continue contributing nothing?
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
You were given reasonable good explanations earlier in the thread including stats and from people other than me that will be nicer to you
But you don’t want that, you just want to circlejerk negativity as you have since his very first draft thread, that’s why you’re getting friction in response.
You can’t pretend you’re just genuinely curious when you don’t respond to the thought out posts with reasons and just like the ones going “lol carried by Kopitar”
Lt Dan
F*** your ice cream!
Four years and seven games ago our scout brought forth, on this sheet of ice, a new player, conceived in Canada, and dedicated to prepositions as defined in Schoolhouse Rock
Golden_Jet
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- Sep 21, 2005
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This has already been pointed out.
It’s his D+5… which really isn’t some kind of great argument when you’re a 30pt player as a 2nd overall pick…
So he has a sore wrist and is playing C?
Some weak arguments for a guy who’s supposed to be a 1st line C?
Golden_Jet
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- Sep 21, 2005
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Yes we are aware your posts have to be corrected, due to your disengengious posts, that you hope you don’t get called out on, or noticed.
This was just another in a long list of examples.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
Guy has in increase in ice time but he is getting all the extra minutes on the pk.
And worse linemates will do that
And worse linemates will do that
I'm not sure what you mean because he and Byfield were paired on opening night and played together until mid January. In their last 9 games together for a while, here's how they looked:
That 0.59 GF/60 was a massive drop-off from their previous 3.04 GF/60 and their season averages. It was Kopitar's worst stretch of the season and it came with Byfield, not without him. If Byfield was carrying that line, that would suggest that it was he who hit the wall hard. At worst, they both hit it together.
Actually, he's also getting a minute more OT time per game. So, he's gained opportunity, as well. He just hasn't taken advantage of it.
Raccoon Jesus
We were right there
This is what I mean by Kopitar was hitting a wall without him.
Using your arbitrary dates, here's the before Jan 1st:
And after:
I think it's a stretch to suggest Byfield was the catalyst in Kopitar gassing out.
I mean that's a whole different conversation altogether...but Byfield was the driver.
Look I know your whole thesis is Byfield is simply a complementary winger. I doubt I'm going to change anyone's mind who already has it made up that that's all he is, or he's a bust, or this is the best he will be. The best I can do is show you the premises are bunk and this is why I'm reaching a different conclusion.
Oh no! I counted one extra year! That changes everything about Byfield only being a 30pt player today
Golden_Jet
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Yes, over exaggerating a point, when it happens frequently enough that posters are noticing, it’s becomes disengenious,
Fatass
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Breakfast of Champs
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- Apr 15, 2007
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Some nice rewording and false information there from that poster lol.
Another way it could be said would be - "he just had a 55 pt season at 21"
Rounding down to 50, add a year to his age , who will notice right? Anything for the narrative
Kid has been in and out the NHL for the the first half of his career. Pretty easy to count an extra year.
Again, look at what the others drafted around him have been doing, being his D5 or D6 really makes no difference that he’s struggling mightily in comparison
Is 55 supposed to be something really impressive for a 2nd overall pick?
Breakfast of Champs
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- Apr 15, 2007
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It's the fact that you blatantly rounded down and added a year that everyone finds amusing. I could say he had a 60 pt season at age 20 and been just as close to the truth as your statement was (both are wrong).
55 pts is definitely impressive for a 21 year old, especially one who is 6'5 and always projected to take some time. Let's wait till he's 25 before we close the book on his high end potential at least
That reinforces my point that what you're claiming happened while Byfield was his winger, since they played together every night until Jan 18th. More importantly, because of that, the ice time that they spent apart during that stretch was situational and temporary. The fact that chances were up suggests they were separated when the team was being outplayed or protecting a lead, with Kopitar obviously getting the harder minutes. I think that you're making a mistake by assuming that the chances went up because Kopitar didn't have Byfield, when it likely had nothing to do with that.
The same thing is likely going here, but making it even worse is the fact that, when it wasn't Byfield on Kopitar's wing, it was mostly Lafferiere and Turcotte, two rookies who were not up to the challenge. Lafferiere, in particular, had some of the worst metrics on the team even before the promotion. While they were on his wing, Kopitar's goals against soared and his GF% plummeted, as you just showed. Those kids were much worse in that role than Byfield, who deserves a lot of credit for his importance to the line and complementing Kopitar so well, but I think that it's a mistake to jump all of the way to the conclusion that Byfield was, therefore, carrying Kopitar.
In general, I think that you're misinterpreting the stats to support this notion that Kopitar hit a wall and needed Byfield to carry him. It seems like a colossal stretch to believe that a future HOFer who is leading the team in scoring for the 18th season needed to be carried last year by a 21-year-old who was struggling the year before and back to struggling away from him. I'm not one of those saying that Kopitar carried Byfield, but it seems pretty clear by now who benefited a little more from the arrangement last year. Honestly, I wish that it were the other way around, too, since the team would be better off long-term being led by the 22-year-old, not the 37-year-old.
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