For the amrchair scouts out there, what do you see in Byfield?

[DarkLeftHand]

He might be, perhaps a confidence issue. He is young and maybe not comfortable taking a shot when he feels Kopi or Kempe could bury it?

Listening to the postgame interview with Vilardi, one of the things he credits with some of his success this year is something to the effect of not being afraid to shoot the puck. Not sure if young guys just don't want to get a label of selfish or truly lack confidence, but it was an interesting response from Vilardi and maybe QB has some of that feeling too.

His inability to beat NHL goaltenders with his shot thus far is absolutely a confidence issue, definitely in his head. He made a comment in the breezeway in a post game interview with O’Neal and Stoll about it. It was an offhanded remark that sort of went by in passing, but if you go back and watch, you’ll see what I’m talking about, if you missed it the first time.

 

[Nyssa42]

His skills are there, he just gets bullied because he still looks like Bambi out there even though he’s not scared, just needs more muscle so that he can use his length to his advantage.

But, his skating has improved TREMENDOUSLY, thank goodness. I'm not afraid he's going to roll down the ice head over heels every time he carries the puck now. Sometimes I don't even notice him out there - and that's a good thing! Still waiting for him to lay that one big check, though.

 

[Statue4Deano]

I don’t understand when people are ready to call Byfield a bust.

He’s 20. He has developed the baseline foundation to stay on the ice and be a contributor.

He is starting to pile up points now that he has chemistry with Kempe and Kopi.

The issue I see with Byfield is he still has to fill out a bit more so that he’s not so easily knocked off the puck.

His skills are there, he just gets bullied because he still looks like Bambi out there even though he’s not scared, just needs more muscle so that he can use his length to his advantage.

You better believe the exact same people were calling Vilardi a bust before this season. They also questioned his hockey IQ, his skating, his lack of production and they called him injury prone. Every prospect's development path is different. Every prospect outside of Crosby and McDavid has warts. What Stutzle is now or ends up being is irrelevant because the Kings didn't select him. What matters is how the Kings help Quentin get better every single day. Right now the 20 year old the Kings did select is an integral part of an elite squad fighting for the #1 slot in their conference.

 

[Bollocks]

You better believe the exact same people were calling Vilardi a bust before this season. They also questioned his hockey IQ, his skating, his lack of production and they called him injury prone. Every prospect's development path is different. Every prospect outside of Crosby and McDavid has warts. What Stutzle is now or ends up being is irrelevant because the Kings didn't select him. What matters is how the Kings help Quentin get better every single day. Right now the 20 year old the Kings did select is an integral part of an elite squad fighting for the #1 slot in their conference.

The comparisons with Stutzle is what annoys me the most.

First of all, MOST people and experts at the time of the draft were in favor of drafting QB.

Second of all, productive, offensively gifted forwards (and especially wingers) can carry a team only so far. Productive two-way centers that can play in all situations and can make their teammates better carry a team much further. That's QB's ceiling and the current development efforts aim to achieve just that.

Had he ended up in Ottawa he'd probably have a lot more goals and assists and a lot less fundamentals that are key to the game. Pick your path.

 

[Statue4Deano]

The comparisons with Stutzle is what annoys me the most.

First of all, MOST people and experts at the time of the draft were in favor of drafting QB.

Second of all, productive, offensively gifted forwards (and especially wingers) can carry a team only so far. Productive two-way centers that can play in all situations and can make their teammates better carry a team much further. That's QB's ceiling and the current development efforts aim to achieve just that.

Had he ended up in Ottawa he'd probably have a lot more goals and assists and a lot less fundamentals that are key to the game. Pick your path.

It should be pretty obvious to anyone who watched Kopitar's development with the Kings just what path they've got Byfield going down. Kopitar came into the league as a one-dimensional offense first Center. Everyone saw the game-breaking skills he already had as a 19 year old. And that's how he was used for the first 2 years of his NHL career under Marc Crawford. 20 goals 61 points rookie season 32 goals 77 points in his sophomore season. Clearly on the path to putting up big gaudy offensive stats but those teams were awful. They bled goals. Kopitar was a -27 over that span.

Year 3. Insert Terry Murray and his commitment to defensive structure from the top down. Kopitar was now forced to think about the entire 200' of ice first and his offense second. And guess what happens, his offense craters. Goals down to 27 and points down to 66. But the team did better. And his 2nd year under Murray as a complete 2-way Center he sets new career highs in goals and points and the Kings get back into the playoffs.

Non-linear development.

I see Byfield as already working down the path that Kopitar went down and now he's got the advantage of playing next to the guy who is going to hand him the torch. That's a luxury that Kopitar never had.

 

[Ice24]

Could you imagine if the team was losing, people would be burying Byfield.

This kid is getting better each game, he will miss reads, he is still clumsy, however he is facing top competition and only getting better for it. He is not a liability, yet he will make mistakes and that is part of the process. Playing with Kopitar is making him a better player, he is taking it all in watching Kopitar and his resurgence.

 

[dannybuoy1]

For me, Byfield has so much room for growth. He is doing all the little things right now, and he has skill which we have seen.

I think many people are comparing him to Stuzle, which I do not think is fair. I am not ready to give up on him at all. Turcotte I see nothing. Byfield its there and eventually I think the scoring will come. He is not afraid of anybody. I like him.

 

[Kurisu]

My god does that clip Crylol: make me miss Bob.

 

[VCRW]

As I remember, Kopi’s original alley-oop receiver was O’Sullivan. But that play to Brown was far more memorable.

 

[Illegal_Stick]

I wonder as he improves and Vilardi becomes a star if any of the fire TMac crowd recognize who has guided their development. Just guessing here - but Vilardi seemed like (and was known as a teenager here in Ottawa) as a little bit of a big head, while Byfield seems the opposite. So Vilardi seemed to be punished more until he learned to play a complete game. While Byfield is given more rope and placed on a first line - where most of us thought he didn’t belong. Pretty great coaching I think.

 

[Pevsfreedom]

I wonder as he improves and Vilardi becomes a star if any of the fire TMac crowd recognize who has guided their development. Just guessing here - but Vilardi seemed like (and was known as a teenager here in Ottawa) as a little bit of a big head, while Byfield seems the opposite. So Vilardi seemed to be punished more until he learned to play a complete game. While Byfield is given more rope and placed on a first line - where most of us thought he didn’t belong. Pretty great coaching I think.

TMac only gets fired if we miss the playoffs this year, which I think may have happened without Copley coming in and just doing nothing but getting wins. Otherwise I think the only people who want him fired are the ones mad that he doesn't call timeouts. I think he's been good. I like TMac, tho I disagree with some choices - tho my NHL coaching experience is limited to playstation NHL2002 to about NHL2016 when I started to get bored of it.

I will say I think TMac definitely sees something in Byfield (besides his stature) more than anyone for the confidence he's placed in him. Maybe it's to raise QB's own confidence. Vilardi looks like a player who knows he's skilled, and confident, but still coming to grips with the size and speed of the big leagues. I can't wait to see both develop. It's hard seeing people like Brown and JQ go, but fun to see maybe the next wave growing up.

 

[Helvetica]

I wonder as he improves and Vilardi becomes a star if any of the fire TMac crowd recognize who has guided their development. Just guessing here - but Vilardi seemed like (and was known as a teenager here in Ottawa) as a little bit of a big head, while Byfield seems the opposite. So Vilardi seemed to be punished more until he learned to play a complete game. While Byfield is given more rope and placed on a first line - where most of us thought he didn’t belong. Pretty great coaching I think.

The narrative we tend to hear for players playing in the AHL, is "why dont the Kings give them a chance with teh big team?" When they play with the Big team, it's "why dont they put them in a spot to succeed". When they get put in a spot to succeed, it's "why are they playing that guy there?"


The Kings love to bring players up, and give them time in the bottom 6 to work on small details. Once they've demonstrated those fundamentals. The parts of the game that make them reliable and consistent for the rest of the team, they give them more opportunity. The difference between Vilardi and Byfield was mostly attitude, and Byfield was willing to work on the small stuff. With Gabe, we had comments like, "im just not a faceoff guy", and there were the (all but confirmed now) issues with his sulking and demeanor. Byfield has struggled. That's part of why we have this thread. The difference is, he put in the effort and stayed focused and positive in building the smaller parts of his game. The Kings rewarded that. And honestly, feel like there's really no better situation for him to grow than what he's doing right now. His strengths are speed, size, vision, and passing. He's currently in a position to utilize all of that. And he gets PP2 time. He's improving week to week, and we're starting to see more and more of why the Kings drafted him. He's going to get there.

Full credit to Gabe though for making some of the harder changes a player can make in adjusting his attitude and staying focused on improving without getting overly frustrated. His game has grown tremendously and he deserves a lot of that credit. He was basically down to his final chance to start this season, and he's taken advantage. It's been wonderful to watch.

 

[triplcrown]

Byfield will develop gradually, like Tage Thompson, except better.

By the time he's he's 24, he wil be dynamite.

 

[ChiKingFan]

I've made this comparison before, but:

Player A: First overall pick. Long NHL career. Ross and Heart Trophy winner. 6'4", 220 lbs. Through his first 85 NHL games, he had 6 goals and 11 assists. Scored over 1,000 career points. He's a first ballot hall of famer when eligible.

QB: Second overall pick. No trophies. 6'5", 220 lbs. Has played 85 NHL games, and has 8 goals and 21 assists.

Maybe it's not time to cut bait on Byfield just yet. He may never reach his ceiling, and he'll probably never be as good as Player A, but doubtful he'd fetch a great return if the Kings were looking to dump him. Player A got traded, and the return was not great.

 

[emsomaso]

I wonder as he improves and Vilardi becomes a star if any of the fire TMac crowd recognize who has guided their development. Just guessing here - but Vilardi seemed like (and was known as a teenager here in Ottawa) as a little bit of a big head, while Byfield seems the opposite. So Vilardi seemed to be punished more until he learned to play a complete game. While Byfield is given more rope and placed on a first line - where most of us thought he didn’t belong. Pretty great coaching I think.

I've sometimes been critical of TMac but have no problem saying that he does many good things for this team. What I can't understand is for exampel how Spence plays a REALLY good game against a great team like Colorado, just to be benched the following games. I just don't get that!

 

[Pevsfreedom]

Byfield will develop gradually, like Tage Thompson, except better.

By the time he's he's 24, he wil be dynamite.

I am not the optimistic type.

 

[Heino]

I've made this comparison before, but:

Player A: First overall pick. Long NHL career. Ross and Heart Trophy winner. 6'4", 220 lbs. Through his first 85 NHL games, he had 6 goals and 11 assists. Scored over 1,000 career points. He's a first ballot hall of famer when eligible.

QB: Second overall pick. No trophies. 6'5", 220 lbs. Has played 85 NHL games, and has 8 goals and 21 assists.

Maybe it's not time to cut bait on Byfield just yet. He may never reach his ceiling, and he'll probably never be as good as Player A, but doubtful he'd fetch a great return if the Kings were looking to dump him. Player A got traded, and the return was not great.

Joe Thornton?

 

[John a90]

I'm all for giving the guy a chance to better himself. however, I just don't like giving him that chance on the 1st line.

 

[santiclaws]

I'm all for giving the guy a chance to better himself. however, I just don't like giving him that chance on the 1st line.

You do realize the first line was a disaster before with Fiala and has been absolutely on fire since they put QB on it?

 

[John a90]

You do realize the first line was a disaster before with Fiala and has been absolutely on fire since they put QB on it?

yes, yes, I know all of that. You mean to tell me that there's noone else on this Kings team who could move up to that 1st line other than Fiala?