WJC - Byfield Thoughts

[johnjm22]

Big lanky guys never look as flashy out there. There's something about size that makes them look like they're moving slower. A lot of times their stick handling never looks as silky smooth either.

That's part of the reason Byfield looks unimpressive to less astute viewers IMO.

There's been some comparison to Malkin. If you watch Malkin he doesn't really look like a flashy stick handler, but he plays a fast north/south south game and just gets shit done. Byfeild has that look sometimes as well.

 

[johnjm22]

Check out Baker Mayfield vs Josh Allen run the 40 yard dash at the NFL combine:


Baker looks like he's trying really hard and running really fast. Allen looks like a big slug moving in slow motion. But Allen runs the better time.

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

Big lanky guys never look as flashy out there. There's something about size that makes them look like they're moving slower. A lot of times their sticking handling never looks as silky smooth either.

That's part of the reason Byfield looks unimpressive to less astute viewers IMO.

There's been some comparison to Malkin. If you watch Malkin he doesn't really look like a flashily stick handler, but he plays a fast north/south south game and just gets shit done. Byfeild has that look sometimes as well.

I have wondered if some of the criticism of him comes from the fact that it looks like he’s not churning his feet as much as smaller, quick players (but taking longer strides in the process), even though he covers a lot more ground with his strides and doesn’t have to move his feet as much to cover the same amount of ice.

 

[Jericho111091]

I have wondered if some of the criticism of him comes from the fact that it looks like he’s not churning his feet as much as smaller, quick players (but taking longer strides in the process), even though he covers a lot more ground with his strides and doesn’t have to move his feet as much to cover the same amount of ice.

Jeff Carter syndrome

 

[kingsholygrail]

Byfield looks bigger than everyone else out there. Not quite like Chara, but similar.

 

[Crosside]

Sens fan coming in peace. I just see a tweet that said by Blake , Byfield gonna play his 6 game try out this year.

 

[kingsboy11]

Sens fan coming in peace. I just see a tweet that said by Blake , Byfield gonna play his 6 game try out this year.

Well he didn't say 6, just that he would get NHL games, Kaliyev as well. Cart before the horse.

 

[King'sPawn]

The other thing that I think is impressive about Byfield is he got his numbers while playing 3rd line and 2nd powerplay minutes.

You can argue he didn't "earn" those minutes, even though his coachability and attitude has been praised. But he's definitely improved and played like a top line player.

He scored 6 points in a game where nobody else scored more than 3. So it's not like anyone in particular was inflating his points.

 

[Mats26]

The other thing that I think is impressive about Byfield is he got his numbers while playing 3rd line and 2nd powerplay minutes.

You can argue he didn't "earn" those minutes, even though his coachability and attitude has been praised. But he's definitely improved and played like a top line player.

He scored 6 points in a game where nobody else scored more than 3. So it's not like anyone in particular was inflating his points.

He only had 11 minutes of ice time and scored 6 pts...that's pretty good. One game, hope he builds off of it.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

I have wondered if some of the criticism of him comes from the fact that it looks like he’s not churning his feet as much as smaller, quick players (but taking longer strides in the process), even though he covers a lot more ground with his strides and doesn’t have to move his feet as much to cover the same amount of ice.

I liked Byfield's hustle. Of course I wanted him to use his size more and smash guys into the boards and steal the puck...I wondered about his linemates? Team Canada didn't have much chemistry and that afflicted Byfield's line most in my books. That and the fact that 10-11 centres were thrust into 4 lines leaving many players out of their natural positions

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I've learned in my time as a Kings fan to wait to judge draft picks until I can see about 20NHL games out of them. I got burned by Aki Berg, Storr and
Olli Jokinen who was compared to Esa Tikkanen which couldn't be more wrong. Then there was the You Tube hype videos of Jack Johnson who was literally going to "kill" other NHL players. It turned out the biggest hit of his career was received behind the net by an opposing player

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This will be a fun thread to review in a couple of years for any number of reasons.

 

[Reaper45]

This will be a fun thread to review in a couple of years for any number of reasons.

Or it will be an absolute nightmare. Either way it’s gonna be entertaining.

 

[KingsOfCali25]

Look I'm not a Byfield hater by any means and most of everyone knows I wanted LA to take Stutzle. But Byfield will be just fine. He might not turn out to be the Kopitar replacement everyone wants but if he turns into a Carter clone I'd be fine. I watched all the WJC games and while he didn't standout much; he wasn't God awful either. Also being one of the youngest players in the tournament again he showed well.

My only concern is that he went from being a big fish in a small pond (Sudbury) to being a average sized fish in a large pond (WJC) and didn't raise his game enough. He had a chance to raise up to the occasion when Dach went down and prove his worth but decided to let the coach relay on his older guys rather than forcing his hand (like the issue with Turcotte last WJC). It seemed to me whether it was because of the system role or lack of confidence; he rolled over to the "stars" of the team. I would have liked to see him step his game up like we saw from most of the Kings prospects.

I'm not happy with the pick yet (still think Stutzle was the guy to go with) but I'm okay with how he is progressing. Let him get to LA and learn the pro game a little bit and then next season is when we can see if he will live up to potential.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

Look I'm not a Byfield hater by any means and most of everyone knows I wanted LA to take Stutzle. But Byfield will be just fine. He might not turn out to be the Kopitar replacement everyone wants but if he turns into a Carter clone I'd be fine. I watched all the WJC games and while he didn't standout much; he wasn't God awful either. Also being one of the youngest players in the tournament again he showed well.

My only concern is that he went from being a big fish in a small pond (Sudbury) to being a average sized fish in a large pond (WJC) and didn't raise his game enough. He had a chance to raise up to the occasion when Dach went down and prove his worth but decided to let the coach relay on his older guys rather than forcing his hand (like the issue with Turcotte last WJC). It seemed to me whether it was because of the system role or lack of confidence; he rolled over to the "stars" of the team. I would have liked to see him step his game up like we saw from most of the Kings prospects.

I'm not happy with the pick yet (still think Stutzle was the guy to go with) but I'm okay with how he is progressing. Let him get to LA and learn the pro game a little bit and then next season is when we can see if he will live up to potential.

I don't think Byfield really showed everything he was capable of for a variety of reasons...one he saw teammate Dach go down and he didn't want that happening to him.Two,Byfield's next team was LA and he didn't want to screw up his chances. Three, linemates were average and four, really what did that Tourny really mean in the Grand scheme of things?

 

[LAKings88]

I still think LA stuck to a familiar mold with Byfield over Stutzle. Still has a good chance to pay dividends in the end but it will always be in the back of the minds of Kings fans.

I can’t even say Stutzle’s game will translate for sure but I think it will. This one will just take time to play out but this year is gonna be filled with a lot of crowing from other fans. Reminds me of Doubty vs Karlsson.

 

[cyclones22]

A year ago Turcotte and Kaliyev were seen as disappointments in the WJC. Everyone knew both of them were being misused last year by the coaching staff. Deployment matters. I found it interesting that it wasn't until the Canadians were in desperate straits that the coach started using Byfield in an offensive capacity, but by then it was too little too late. Byfield's expected point producing metrics were higher than anyone on his team during the medal round, which means he was creating chances even in his limited role. He took more draws and won more than anyone on Team Canada. Especially in the defensive zone. He was sent out there as a lockdown center and was great at it.

The Canadian coach was super dependent on his top line. That was ridiculous Willie Desjardins type of lopsided deployment. Every forward you have is a first-round draft choice and can produce offense , but he was going to live or die on Dylan Cozens getting most of the favorable matchups and opportunity to drive the offense and in the end he died with that decision.

 

[Token]

Look I'm not a Byfield hater by any means and most of everyone knows I wanted LA to take Stutzle. But Byfield will be just fine. He might not turn out to be the Kopitar replacement everyone wants but if he turns into a Carter clone I'd be fine. I watched all the WJC games and while he didn't standout much; he wasn't God awful either. Also being one of the youngest players in the tournament again he showed well.

My only concern is that he went from being a big fish in a small pond (Sudbury) to being a average sized fish in a large pond (WJC) and didn't raise his game enough. He had a chance to raise up to the occasion when Dach went down and prove his worth but decided to let the coach relay on his older guys rather than forcing his hand (like the issue with Turcotte last WJC). It seemed to me whether it was because of the system role or lack of confidence; he rolled over to the "stars" of the team. I would have liked to see him step his game up like we saw from most of the Kings prospects.

I'm not happy with the pick yet (still think Stutzle was the guy to go with) but I'm okay with how he is progressing. Let him get to LA and learn the pro game a little bit and then next season is when we can see if he will live up to potential.

 

[kilowatt]

A year ago Turcotte and Kaliyev were seen as disappointments in the WJC. Everyone knew both of them were being misused last year by the coaching staff. Deployment matters. I found it interesting that it wasn't until the Canadians were in desperate straits that the coach started using Byfield in an offensive capacity, but by then it was too little too late. Byfield's expected point producing metrics were higher than anyone on his team during the medal round, which means he was creating chances even in his limited role. He took more draws and won more than anyone on Team Canada. Especially in the defensive zone. He was sent out there as a lockdown center and was great at it.

The Canadian coach was super dependent on his top line. That was ridiculous Willie Desjardins type of lopsided deployment. Every forward you have is a first-round draft choice and can produce offense , but he was going to live or die on Dylan Cozens getting most of the favorable matchups and opportunity to drive the offense and in the end he died with that decision.

Last year, Turcotte was asked to play a defensive third/fourth line role and did just that. This year, he was asked to play the all-situations first-line center role and they won a gold medal. Most of these kids on these WJC teams have been "the guy" on their team since they were literally children. Asking them to completely change their game and giving them limited minutes isn't exactly a recipe for success. I wasn't worried about Turcotte last year, I wasn't worried about Byfield this year. In fact, if anything, Byfield's six-point game is a preview of what could be next year with top-line minutes and strong linemates. If Byfield underperforms next year, I'll be bummed. For now, his coaches had only positive things to say about him and he played very well for being the youngest player on Team Canada. It also needs to be said that guys like Dach and Cozens are 18 months older than Byfield. That's a huge age gap. In fact, Dach and Cozens are closer in age to Miro Heiskanen than to Byfield.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Some of you impatient types making proclamations after a brief tournament should get familiarized with some high drafted, big bodied centers who took a few seasons to show their utter dominance.

Research Nathan MacKinnon, Aleksander Barkov, Leon Draisaitl, Blake Wheeler, Joe Thornton, Eric Staal,etc.

You might learn something about long term success.

 

[Jason Squirties]

Look I'm not a Byfield hater by any means and most of everyone knows I wanted LA to take Stutzle. But Byfield will be just fine. He might not turn out to be the Kopitar replacement everyone wants but if he turns into a Carter clone I'd be fine. I watched all the WJC games and while he didn't standout much; he wasn't God awful either. Also being one of the youngest players in the tournament again he showed well.

My only concern is that he went from being a big fish in a small pond (Sudbury) to being a average sized fish in a large pond (WJC) and didn't raise his game enough. He had a chance to raise up to the occasion when Dach went down and prove his worth but decided to let the coach relay on his older guys rather than forcing his hand (like the issue with Turcotte last WJC). It seemed to me whether it was because of the system role or lack of confidence; he rolled over to the "stars" of the team. I would have liked to see him step his game up like we saw from most of the Kings prospects.

I'm not happy with the pick yet (still think Stutzle was the guy to go with) but I'm okay with how he is progressing. Let him get to LA and learn the pro game a little bit and then next season is when we can see if he will live up to potential.

Maybe you missed the part when they outscored their opponents 41-4 leading up to the final and never even trailed. Not exactly sure when he could've risen up to the occasion when everything was going in Canada's favor with the coach's plan, even with Dach going down.

 

[Reaper45]

I don't think Byfield really showed everything he was capable of for a variety of reasons...one he saw teammate Dach go down and he didn't want that happening to him.Two,Byfield's next team was LA and he didn't want to screw up his chances. Three, linemates were average and four, really what did that Tourny really mean in the Grand scheme of things?

So wait, he saw Dach get hurt so he played timid, was worried about his future payday so played timid, his line mates were average-god forbid his play forced them to step up their game, AND what did the tournament even mean to him? Why even represent your country then? Let someone whom the tournament really means something to play then. Jesus Christ you make him sound about as appealing as Jeremy Roenick and Evander Kane all rolled into one. I’m not worried about the kid yet but ohh boy that’s a hot take if ever I’ve seen one.

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

So wait, he saw Dach get hurt so he played timid, was worried about his future payday so played timid, his line mates were average-god forbid his play forced them to step up their game, AND what did the tournament even mean to him? Why even represent your country then? Let someone whom the tournament really means something to play then. Jesus Christ you make him sound about as appealing as Jeremy Roenick and Evander Kane all rolled into one. I’m not worried about the kid yet but ohh boy that’s a hot take if ever I’ve seen one.

He was playing to not get hurt I can guarantee you that

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

So wait, he saw Dach get hurt so he played timid, was worried about his future payday so played timid, his line mates were average-god forbid his play forced them to step up their game, AND what did the tournament even mean to him? Why even represent your country then? Let someone whom the tournament really means something to play then. Jesus Christ you make him sound about as appealing as Jeremy Roenick and Evander Kane all rolled into one. I’m not worried about the kid yet but ohh boy that’s a hot take if ever I’ve seen one.

And his linemates might as well have been pylons

 

[Jason Squirties]

He was playing to not get hurt I can guarantee you that

link to your paypal for you to stop posting?