Toggle sidebar

Prospect Info: Who does LA pick #2? Part 2 To Byfield or to Stutzle? That is the question

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
Status
Not open for further replies.
Why would Toronto trade Nylander++ to draft a forward? I get there are salary cap issues in Leafsland and the move would certainly help that, but the blue line is the #1 priority. So unless the Leafs know Pietrangelo is coming to town (in which case, this trade makes a bit more sense ... but Free Agency comes after the draft so...) , I highly doubt their most attractive trade bait (among players they'd consider moving of course) will be used on another forward.

From the Kings perspective, no chance.

If Byfield/Stutzle come close to living up to expectations they'll be better than Willie within a few seasons. Dermott right now is a depth d-man and the 15th, while valuable as a trade piece, is a complete gamble if they hold it.
 
KopitarFAN said:
The interview with Marcel Goc regarding Stützle was really interesting hearing from a guy who played in the DEL as a teenager and as a veteran NHLer, and spoke very highly of Tim.
Click to expand...
It was a good listen. It didn’t really affect my overall view on Stützle, but I think Goc tried to give a fair and balanced view despite being his teammate and also coaching him . I think it was interesting that he didn’t seem to think Stützle was (full-time) NHL ready, despite what some of his fans have said. Goc’s view on that is definitely the one I’ll be listening to. He thought he’d maybe get a handful of games and even then I thought he was cautious in saying that.

I wouldn’t be making my pick based on which player is most NHL at this point anyway.
 
  • Like
Reactions: funky, Raccoon Jesus and Schrute farms
Two nice articles on The Athletic by Lisa Dillman:

The case for the Kings selecting Quinton Byfield with the No. 2 draft pick

Ray Ferraro talking about the advantage of Germany hockey starting up before NA:

“I’d be really careful about that swaying my pick. You’ve got to give Byfield that same run up that these kids (in Europe) have. Put it this way — I’d have a hard time walking past a 6-foot-5 center.”

An unnamed scout:

“There haven’t been a lot of players with his size and his athleticism coming into the league,” he said. “He’s a big man. A big athlete that is just starting to grow into his body – starting to fill out physically.
“He’s got such great natural skating and skill level that it’s very hard to compare. Rarely do you see somebody that moves that well with his size...When you look at the possibilities of what he might develop into, he’s certainly going to be a very hard player to match up against at the highest level. It’s just a matter of what that timeline is going to be.”

I edited out some so as to not break the rules here. But that's for folks who think some of us are enamored with Byfield because he's big. It's the degree of size AND skill.

'I compare him to Patrick Kane': The case for the Kings selecting Tim Stutzle

“Every year, it’s something different,” an NHL scout observed. “It’s a copycat league. When the Kings were winning – big and heavy and possession. Then it went to: you’ve got to be skilled and fast and moving. Then the St. Louis Blues won and they could be classified as a little bit heavier team but they played with pace. Now you see them lose and you see Vancouver winning with young skilled creative talent. Now it’s going back this way.”

“I would say there are some shades of Mat Barzal and Jonathan Huberdeau and Mitch Marner in his game,” he said. “There are different aspects and different traits he has.”
The scout brought the conversation back to the two prospects, Stutzle and Byfield, saying, “The one thing they have in common is they’re both top-end skaters. They have skating as a definitive trait.”

Another Mat Barzal would be the optimal for me if the Kings drafted Stutzle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: King'sPawn and Telos
This is the part that stands out to me in the Byfield article:
Nelson Emerson and Glen Murray were pondering that very question the other day (outdoors) when we met for coffee in Manhattan Beach. Emerson, the Kings’ director of player personnel, acknowledged the difficulty, as did Murray, their director of player development.

“We’ve been searching for that, and trying,” Emerson said. “It’s hard because you can’t find a 6-foot-4 center, who is going to be 6-5, that also has (almost) 100 points. It’s hard to find that match.”
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: King'sPawn, Steve Zissou, RocketKing and 2 others
KINGS17 said:
Centers with Byfield's amount of size and skill are unicorns. The Kings shouldn't pass on a unicorn.
Click to expand...

It's the one elusive unicorn Dave Taylor was chasing after for so many years, only to draft one in 2005 and never got the opportunity to see him play while he was still GM.

In addition to his size, Byfield's extra gear and explosiveness really sticks out. Hence why the Kings' development staff are struggling to find a comparable, there aren't many centers who are 6'5" who can separate themselves from opponents within a couple of strides.

The things Byfield can do on the ice packaged with his size are traits that can't be taught.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Guitpik, Ghetty Green, Chazz Reinhold and 4 others
Ziggy Stardust said:
It's the one elusive unicorn Dave Taylor was chasing after for so many years, only to draft one in 2005 and never got the opportunity to see him play while he was still GM.

In addition to his size, Byfield's extra gear and explosiveness really sticks out. Hence why the Kings' development staff are struggling to find a comparable, there aren't many centers who are 6'5" who can separate themselves from opponents within a couple of strides.

The things Byfield can do on the ice packaged with his size are traits that can't be taught.
Click to expand...
The Kings development staff be unable to find another player comparable to Byfield should tell them something.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Raccoon Jesus
You hear those things from people in the organization that matter, no offense Marco Sturm, and it's hard to not connect dots, those guys are probably on the next tier below Mark Yannetti, doesn't mean he feels the same way, and no telling how Christian Ruuttu feels about Stützle.
 
The reality is that both Stutzle and Byfield will most likely be stars unless they have injuries. The Kings won't rush them and wreck their development so we won't have to worry about that problem.
 
Just wanted to share the latest article from one of the main Sens insiders, Bruce Garrioch, suggests Blake is being coy about who they will draft - but believes LA has a preference for Byfield

Bruce is pretty well connected to Dorion, not always right of course but I would say hes the main talking head in Ottawa media
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ghetty Green and King'sPawn
Here’s a link to the article referenced above.
GARRIOCH: After Alexis Lafreniere, the NHL draft is a guessing game | Ottawa Sun
The Los Angeles Kings have the second overall selection, so before Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and chief scout Trent Mann can settle on Ottawa’s pick they’re going to have to be patient to see what takes place in front of them.

While there’s talk Kings’ general manager Rob Blake will select forward Tim Stuetzle from Mannheim in the Deutsch Elite League (Germany) with the No. 2 pick, there’s no way centre Quinton Byfield of the Sudbury Wolves should be ruled out because many insiders believe that’s the way Los Angeles is leaning.

There’s a belief amongst league executives that Blake is being coy about his selection because he’d like to at least see if there’s anybody with real interest. The reality is the New York Rangers will listen to offers for the No. 1 pick, but Lafreniere won’t be dealt because the asking price would be too high.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ghetty Green, Raccoon Jesus, cyclones22 and 1 other person
Ziggy Stardust said:
Here’s a link to the article referenced above.

There’s a belief amongst league executives that Blake is being coy about his selection because he’d like to at least see if there’s anybody with real interest. The reality is the New York Rangers will listen to offers for the No. 1 pick, but Lafreniere won’t be dealt because the asking price would be too high.
Click to expand...

So, pretty much everything we've said?

California doesn't know hockey, no way.

Okay done being petty for the night :P
 
Hey guys, according to this genius, we’re losing our shit. Better check with sources in Ottawa to confirm if it’s true.
NyQuil said:
LA Kings fans are collectively losing their shit at the mere suggestion that they might not pick Byfield.

It's pretty funny actually.

What an ornery bunch.

I'd take Byfield myself but I like to gamble on ceiling.

Just glad we don't actually have to pick as I would immediately be consumed by the idea that the guy we didn't pick would pan out better.
Click to expand...
 
I always find it humorous when fans use the line: I'm so happy we have the lower pick so we don't have to make the decision on who to pick.
Seriously it's the stupidest thing ever said by fans. There is NOBODY that would prefer the lower pick at draft time....ever. Even with the additional time/stress involved in deciding which guy to pick -- you always want that decision in your hands. Really it's just the fans who have the lesser pick way of making themselves feel better about the process and rationalizing their extreme disappointment. Go ahead and be happy at #3 Ottawa....we're pretty happy ourselves at #2 thank you.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sens of Anarchy, Ghetty Green, TruKingFan and 2 others
Schrute farms beets said:
I always find it humorous when fans use the line: I'm so happy we have the lower pick so we don't have to make the decision on who to pick.
Seriously it's the stupidest thing ever said by fans. There is NOBODY that would prefer the lower pick at draft time....ever. Even with the additional time/stress involved in deciding which guy to pick -- you always want that decision in your hands. Really it's just the fans who have the lesser pick way of making themselves feel better about the process and rationalizing their extreme disappointment. Go ahead and be happy at #3 Ottawa....we're pretty happy ourselves at #2 thank you.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's stupid.

What if LA takes Byfield so LA "makes the choice" of Stutzle for Ottawa. Did LA make the choice? Is Stutzle definitively the only option at 3? If he busts, does Ottawa's scouting staff get a pass because LA made the choice for them? It goes both ways: it isn't a case of the only option being that LA makes the wrong pick and "delivers" the right choice to Ottawa.

I can get it from a fan's POV: both LA and Ottawa fans are happy to be selecting so high and adding a top prospect; however, you want to be picking from the widest selection of players possible in the real world.
 
Fans over on the Sens board are crying about us for disproving their speculative "sources." I don't recall any fans of other teams being so fickle as they are, I guess the closest might be Leafs fans in 2009 who wanted Brayden Schenn so badly.

The image of a fuming Brian Burke epitomized the expression their fans had at that draft, but they made out okay with Nazem Kadri anyhow (only to screw it up by trading him away for lesser players).
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom