Not sure I'm buying this comparison with all due respect. Kopitar had 4 70 plus point campaigns in his first 5 seasons and wasn't nearly the skater Byfield is. IMHO...QB's problem is between his ears.
Whoa….easy on the Kopitar comparison. Kopi had 300+ points in his first 5 seasons, Byfield doesn’t have half of that.
Agree! To me it gets a bit contradictory when people that critisizes Kings management for waisting our assets sometimes are the same people that seems to basically want to give QB away just to get rid of him...And @Axl Rhoadz
You both didn't understand what I was trying to say.
Kopitar had a quite glaring flaw in his game, no matter the offensive production, and it took him 4 years with better foundation and less pressure and adversity to work on them to the point of actually becoming a complete player. And a different coach.
With Kopitar the problem was defense. With Byfield the problem is offense, faceoffs, decision making and consistency. First depends on playing system and confidence a lot, the rest mostly depends on experience and mileage. And all of it depends on suitable approach to development and player utilization.
He will almost 100% never reach Kopitar's level and I wasn't trying to say he will. I was trying to say he's far from the top of his development curve and the Kings absolutely would be selling very low if they trade him before giving him a chance to succeed with a summer of training with top linemates and a different coach. And trading him low would be very bad asset management.
I'd only consider it if there is a team that's willing to send us a proven veteran #1 center with at least 8 years left in his tank (to match up with Kempe's timelin) and is signed to a long-term deal (or in a sign&trade) with very minimal asset additions on the Kings' part. But I doubt there's a team like that out there at the moment.
Sometimes I get the impression some of the LGKers would be willing to trade him for a bag of pucks just so they don't havr to be frustrated with him anymore. Sucks to be so pessimistic and impatient, I must say...
Sometimes I get the impression some of the LGKers would be willing to trade him for a bag of pucks just so they don't havr to be frustrated with him anymore. Sucks to be so pessimistic and impatient, I must say...
You really think we could get a whole bag of pucks for him?
I think MY point was that if I am correct and Byfield's issues and emergence as a top line player have nothing to do with his skill set...then I think we will be waiting around a long time for him to 'develop'. You can't teach instinct...aggression...edge...and a nose for the net. As for the defensive side of the game...QB currently has 8 more points than Kopitar but is a -6 to Kopi's +12. Just saying. QB is not a top line center. The End.And @Axl Rhoadz
You both didn't understand what I was trying to say.
Kopitar had a quite glaring flaw in his game, no matter the offensive production, and it took him 4 years with better foundation and less pressure and adversity to work on them to the point of actually becoming a complete player. And a different coach.
With Kopitar the problem was defense. With Byfield the problem is offense, faceoffs, decision making and consistency. First depends on playing system and confidence a lot, the rest mostly depends on experience and mileage. And all of it depends on suitable approach to development and player utilization.
He will almost 100% never reach Kopitar's level and I wasn't trying to say he will. I was trying to say he's far from the top of his development curve and the Kings absolutely would be selling very low if they trade him before giving him a chance to succeed with a summer of training with top linemates and a different coach. And trading him low would be very bad asset management.
I'd only consider it if there is a team that's willing to send us a proven veteran #1 center with at least 8 years left in his tank (to match up with Kempe's timelin) and is signed to a long-term deal (or in a sign&trade) with very minimal asset additions on the Kings' part. But I doubt there's a team like that out there at the moment.
Sometimes I get the impression some of the LGKers would be willing to trade him for a bag of pucks just so they don't havr to be frustrated with him anymore. Sucks to be so pessimistic and impatient, I must say...
Agree! To me it gets a bit contradictory when people that critisizes Kings management for waisting our assets sometimes are the same people that seems to basically want to give QB away just to get rid of him...
Speaking of QB and Kopi - which center, between those two, has played regularly against the opposing team's top line this season? Additionally, which of those two centers has routinely played with the Kings top winder (Kempe)?I think MY point was that if I am correct and Byfield's issues and emergence as a top line player have nothing to do with his skill set...then I think we will be waiting around a long time for him to 'develop'. You can't teach instinct...aggression...edge...and a nose for the net. As for the defensive side of the game...QB currently has 8 more points than Kopitar but is a -6 to Kopi's +12. Just saying. QB is not a top line center. The End.
I was going to chime in on this discussion the other day, but was to busy..... Anyway, this post reminds me of one of the stats I was going to bring up. If we are so concerned with +/- Through the first 5 years of their careers, Kopi was a whopping -13 (if memory serves me correctly, while QB is sitting at a +36. At the time it must have meant that Kopi was not first line material and should have been traded.Speaking of QB and Kopi - which center, between those two, has played regularly against the opposing team's top line this season? Additionally, which of those two centers has routinely played with the Kings top winder (Kempe)?
Quality of opponent matters as much as quality of linemates do. It's cool to cherry pick a stat like +/- but QB remains a career +36 while Stutzle, for instance, remains a career -59.
I do agree with you with you that Byfield has not yet established himself as a top line center, however he is being utilized as a shutdown center vs what is typically a team's top line, scoring, center (even though he leads Kings centers in points). Despite that, QB has the 2nd most game winning goals this season, only behind Kempe (multiple of whose goals he assisted on).
Also mental game and awareness do increase as a player matures in the league. Some of that comes from confidence, some from experience, but QB will grow.
It's easier to evolve into a 1st line center if you come out of the gate scoring and develop your defensive game later. Are trying to imply that regardless of plus/minus you would be perfectly content with 40-50 points a year from your 1C?? Please. And btw...I never said trade him...I said 'Byfield is not a top line center'...which is the position I think we can all agree he is/was being groomed for especially as the number 2 pick.I was going to chime in on this discussion the other day, but was to busy..... Anyway, this post reminds me of one of the stats I was going to bring up. If we are so concerned with +/- Through the first 5 years of their careers, Kopi was a whopping -13 (if memory serves me correctly, while QB is sitting at a +36. At the time it must have meant that Kopi was not first line material and should have been traded.
^^^This.I think MY point was that if I am correct and Byfield's issues and emergence as a top line player have nothing to do with his skill set...then I think we will be waiting around a long time for him to 'develop'. You can't teach instinct...aggression...edge...and a nose for the net. As for the defensive side of the game...QB currently has 8 more points than Kopitar but is a -6 to Kopi's +12. Just saying. QB is not a top line center. The End.
Yep, please continue to cherry pick one stat and use that as evidence that QB is somehow better than Kopi. Haha.I was going to chime in on this discussion the other day, but was to busy..... Anyway, this post reminds me of one of the stats I was going to bring up. If we are so concerned with +/- Through the first 5 years of their careers, Kopi was a whopping -13 (if memory serves me correctly, while QB is sitting at a +36. At the time it must have meant that Kopi was not first line material and should have been traded.
It's easier to evolve into a 1st line center if you come out of the gate scoring and develop your defensive game later. Are trying to imply that regardless of plus/minus you would be perfectly content with 40-50 points a year from your 1C?? Please. And btw...I never said trade him...I said 'Byfield is not a top line center'...which is the position I think we can all agree he is/was being groomed for especially as the number 2 pick.
Which crowd is the bag of pucks crowd? Do you have proof of people saying that or are you just making a strawman argument? My guess is its the latter.While I'm definitely with the crowd that criticizes the Kings' FO and Luc (and rightly so), at least I'm not part of the crowd that wants QB gone for a bag of pucks. Some people here have way too much expectations of what defines a complete player. Not every player here in the Kings is going to be Gretzky, M.Lemieux, Yzerman, McDavid, Bergeron, Crosby, or even Modano.
I got ya. I was only commenting in response to the previous query above about why these large signing bonuses are used, but was also slightly unsure myself.All correct.
My larger point is that LA taxes are used as a convenient excuse whenever the Kings miss out on a big name player. Panarin just proved that if a player wants to be here he’ll sign here.
i got ya. My original post was somewhat of a comment/question, as I was also not completely clear on the mechanics of these signing bonus structure deals. Someone else made a good point about it making a player slightly more appealing for trade in the final contract year also, since actual dollars paid would be very minimal by the acquiring team.All correct.
My larger point is that LA taxes are used as a convenient excuse whenever the Kings miss out on a big name player. Panarin just proved that if a player wants to be here he’ll sign here.
Bruh… Dan Cloutier.I was going to chime in on this discussion the other day, but was to busy..... Anyway, this post reminds me of one of the stats I was going to bring up. If we are so concerned with +/- Through the first 5 years of their careers, Kopi was a whopping -13 (if memory serves me correctly, while QB is sitting at a +36. At the time it must have meant that Kopi was not first line material and should have been traded.