To date, the Kings have played 66 games this season. In 34 of those contests, Quinton Byfield has centered a line with Kevin Fiala and Alex Laferriere as his wings. According to MoneyPuck data, they’ve been the Kings best trio at both ends of the ice, averaging 3.35 goals of offense per 60 minutes, while only giving up .90 goals per 60 minutes.
More specifically, it seems like Byfield has become almost the perfect partner for Fiala, after the coaching staff spent quite a bit of time over the past two years searching for the right mix.
So, what exactly is it that makes things work so well between Fiala and Byfield?
“I think they complement each other,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said, beginning with the obvious before breaking things down more precisely. “I would include Laf in that, as well. I think sometimes he gets lost in the mix. He does a lot of good work, so we just have to include Laf. That line looks really good.”
The idea of playing Fiala and Byfield together was actually born out of a concept developed last summer. However, it included a different winger at the time.
“If you recall, when we came into training camp, we had [Warren Foegele] starting with them,” remarked the Kings bench boss. “They got off on a terrific training camp and preseason, and then five or six games into the regular season, it just wasn’t working, so we took them apart. That was the plan in the summer, we talked about it, we really saw those two as two guys that were going to be a pair and we tried to find a winger for them.”
For as good as Byfield has been in the second half of the season thus far, Hiller also likes where his relationship with Fiala is headed. It’s actually been quite a turnaround from back in late October, when he scratched his star forward for missing a team meeting in San Jose.
Just before the Four Nations break, Hiller predicted Fiala was poised to have a monster run to end the regular season. This coach-player harmony, is it riding a sustained high at the moment?
“It goes up and down still, like it always does,” Hiller said, when asked about how he and Fiala are vibing these days. “Just like my mood and your mood, and everybody’s mood, goes up and down — it’s never going to be just perfect. But, yeah, I think Kevin has come a long way in his game. Just his overall game is better than I’ve seen it since my time here. Of course you want him to score too, that’s what he gets a pretty good paycheck for, to add some goals. But it’s not just that. It’s just how he’s playing the game.”
Just last Thursday vs. the Capitals, Hiller called Fiala’s performance, “One of the best games that he’s played since I’ve been here.”
With that in mind, has Byfield become the Fiala-whisperer then?
“I don’t know, you’d have to ask Kevin,” Hiller quickly quipped. “They’re really comfortable together. I think Q has a good temperament, and I don’t all the time. So maybe that has helped them.”
Little did Hiller know, about 10 minutes earlier, Mayor’s Manor had actually asked Fiala for his thoughts on why the pairing with Byfield has helped him reach a new level in Los Angeles — and surprisingly, the Swiss native leaned into a similar narrative to what Hiller offered.
“I think we’re both making each other better,” Fiala said. “That’s obviously the goal — everybody makes each better. Obviously Laf, as well. Without him, we wouldn’t do this. He’s forechecking well, he’s doing so many little things good, the dirty stuff — going to the net, getting the pucks, retrieving the pucks, back checking, all this stuff. Right now, it’s working. … We’re fast, we’re shooting, and I think when we are shooting pucks, even in bad angles, we’re getting the pucks back. And then, we create some more stuff off that. That’s the key for us, and speed, obviously.”
Let’s get back to his center, though. Fiala arrived in town during the summer of 2022, when Byfield was still trying to break into the lineup as a full-time NHL player. What does he make of the big pivot’s development over that stretch?
“You can tell, he’s a grown man now, he’s huge!” Fiala began. “He uses his body. He’s fast. He can shoot the puck, he can pass, he can see the ice. Obviously, I try to get my creativity to him. I talk to him a lot on the bench and stuff; he’s listening. It’s great, you know? It’s a give and take.”
Is the production the line has given the Kings what he envisioned coming into training camp and a group he considers to be his permanent home in Hiller’s lineup?
“You can never say this is going to stick forever,” Fiala quickly noted. “We’ve been hot since we got back together. The most important thing is just to stick with it; don’t be overly creative — like overpassing, and things like that. If there’s a pass to be made, there’s a pass. But, all three of us have to have a shooting mindset.”
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