[Article] Quinton Byfield has arrived, and he's just getting started

[RWJC]

Hey @Alflives - think you mislabeled this one as a busteroo, furball.

 

Quinton Byfield has arrived, and he's just getting started

 

The 2020 second overall draft selection is coming into his own with the Los Angeles Kings, and his confidence is only continuing to grow.

 

If you asked a group of NHL scouts to create the prototypical power forward in a lab, odds are the output would look a lot like Quinton Byfield.

 

“He’s pretty much good at everything,” Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe told Yahoo Sports.

 

Measuring out at 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, Byfield possesses a toolkit seldom seen in big-bodied players. He’s got high-end speed, which NHL Edge data can attest to, and an incredible motor to go along with it. When the puck is on his stick, the 21-year-old doesn’t look wonky or out of sync like a lot of players in his weight class do. He boasts poise and finesse as a puck carrier, and he’s a dual-threat offensive talent who's as dangerous of a shooter as he is a playmaker.

 

But with all the upside he’s shown over the last three years, Byfield — the second overall pick at the 2020 draft — had yet to put it all together at the NHL level, recording 33 points in 99 career games ahead of this season.

That has all changed to begin his latest campaign.

 

14 games into the 2023-24 season, Byfield has recorded two goals and 13 points and ranks third among U22 scorers. While skating on the left wing alongside Anze Kopitar and Kempe on Los Angeles’ top line — one of the league's best trios right now — Byfield has been a driver at 5-on-5, with a sparkling 61 percent Corsi-for percentage serving as a testament to that. While the box score totals and fancy stats paint one part of the picture, Byfield’s true impact has been with the subtleties.

 

“He’s done a really good job on the forecheck and winning lots of battles,” Kempe explained. “That’s the way he’s got to play to become successful.”

Like most young prospects, Byfield had to re-invent his game to become an NHL regular.

 

“Coming into the league, I didn’t really know what type of player I was going to be,” Byfield told Yahoo Sports. “But now I have an identity and know what I’m trying to build towards.”

 

For Byfield, forming that identity wasn’t a linear process.

 

Oftentimes, there’s a misconception that players like Byfield will transition seamlessly to the NHL. When you see a prospect of the Newmarket, Ont. native's stature — who scored nearly two points per game in the OHL and had "NHL size" in his draft year— go second overall, it’s natural to assume he’ll effortlessly become a productive pro player. But a lot of the time, it’s actually the inverse.

 

“It’s typical [as a] first-round or top-five pick, you come into the league because you scored. And sometimes you scored easy in a league of young men. You come to the NHL and you’re trying to score easy against men and it doesn’t work,” said Kings coach Todd McLellan.

 

Part of the adjustment for players like Byfield — who was the youngest player in his draft class — coincides with physical maturation. But there’s also a mental aspect to it.

 

“You could just manhandle half the guys in junior, but now you’ve got to really control your body positioning the right way against older and stronger guys,” Byfield explained.

In junior, Byfield didn’t need to keep his head up as he could simply skate through traffic. In one-on-one battles, he was at an advantage in virtually every situation given his frame. But in the NHL, there's far less time and space to be had. Decisions have to be make quicker, as professional defenders close off gaps quicker and hit harder than teenagers…

 

 

Jacob Stoller

Updated Tue, November 14, 2023 at 1:00 PM PST

 

link to rest of article:

https://ca.yahoo.com/sports/news/quinton-byfield-has-arrived-and-hes-just-getting-started-202133533.html

 

[Miss Korea]

The anti-J.T. Miller.  Don't play centre - play the wing!

[wai_lai416]

meh byfield and laffy have both been labeled as bust by many on the forum and wanted to give up a 2nd rounder or worse for them, both are having a decent start to the season so far. i always liked laffy and think he'll be fine when given the chance. he has 11 points in 14 games? despite betting no pp1 minutes.. he also leads the team in almost all advance stats. and have 9 takeaway to only 2 giveaways. he would have been a perfect fit for our top 6 winger situation imo. 

[AatuD2]

On 11/15/2023 at 2:33 AM, wai_lai416 said:

meh byfield and laffy have both been labeled as bust by many on the forum and wanted to give up a 2nd rounder or worse for them, both are having a decent start to the season so far. i always liked laffy and think he'll be fine when given the chance. he has 11 points in 14 games? despite betting no pp1 minutes.. he also leads the team in almost all advance stats. and have 9 takeaway to only 2 giveaways. he would have been a perfect fit for our top 6 winger situation imo. 

 

 

Yeah but I don't think that Rangers were ever going to trade him away.  

 

A former number 1 or 2 overall pick poses a TON of risk to the team trading him away. 

[wai_lai416]

2 hours ago, AatuD2 said:

 

 

Yeah but I don't think that Rangers were ever going to trade him away.  

 

A former number 1 or 2 overall pick poses a TON of risk to the team trading him away. 

i don't think they wouldn't trade them if the right trade comes along.. but wouldn't be the spare part cap dump chump change people were proposing

[Coconuts]

He's been very impressive thus far, good sign for LA going forward 

[AatuD2]

4 hours ago, wai_lai416 said:

i don't think they wouldn't trade them if the right trade comes along.. but wouldn't be the spare part cap dump chump change people were proposing

 

Yeah, he could've been a part of the zjT Miller trade maybe, but it wouldn't involve another 1st round pick.