Getty
Quinton Byfield, Los Angeles Kings
While Anze Kopitar wasn’t Los Angeles’s only major retirement announcement last week, he still leaves a massive hole for the Kings going forward. He’s certainly not the player he used to be, and can no longer anchor a true Cup contender (the Oilers have proven that four years running). But he is the greatest King of all-time (Gretzky can’t point to any banners but his own, Kopitar can to two), and the Kings will need to find a #1 center who can run with the league’s best.
Luckily for them, they don’t have to look past their second line.
Kopitar was probably coming to the end of his career anyway, given that he’s 38. But he probably felt a little more comfortable getting sized for new woods and irons knowing that Quinton Byfield was ready to take over. Byfield made the rare transition last season from wing to center. It usually goes the other way, but the Kings recognized that having a game-changing center was more important than a dominant winger, and though Byfield was capable.
Byfield certainly wasn’t bad for the first half of last season, as his Corsi and expected goals rate were only still a tick above the team-rate for the first 50 games. But he only put up 23 points, and his line only produced a middling expected goals rate at even-strength. Byfield was mostly only used as an offensive force, but wasn’t really providing that much offense.
But starting on February 1st, Byfield became an unholy doomsday device. He racked up 31 points in 32 games, helped Kevin Fiala to a career-high in goals, upped his metrics to nearly 60 percent (meaning he was mauling his opponents every shift). The Kings shifted his usage to be what Kopitar’s use to be, asking Byfield to flip the ice more often and leaving Kopitar to just concentrate on the offensive end more often. It didn’t matter, as Byfield was more than capable of doing so.
Still, it didn’t help the Kings avoid the ceiling they’d run into the past three seasons, which was the Oilers in the first round. They didn’t really do much during the offseason to try and flip the script, unless they’re one team that’s been whispering sweet nothings in Connor McDavid’s agent’s ear about life in LA should he deem life in Edmonton to be no longer worth the nights at -4 (history doesn’t repeat, but it does rhyme). Their blue line is old and decrepit. The forward group lacks a true difference maker.
All of the Kings’ hopes, for this season and beyond when Kopitar is just schmoozing sponsors in the luxury suites, rests on Byfield becoming a top-15 center in the league. No team can win without one, and Kopitar exited that yacht ride some years ago. It’s one reason they haven’t been able to be anything more than jobbers for the Oilers the past four springs. There’s no one that can counterbalance McDavid and Draisaitl (a common affliction in the league, to be fair).
It’s all there for Byfield. 6-5 centers who are highly skilled and mobile are the most prized possession in the game. Byfield spent a couple months playing like a franchise-turner. For the Kings sake, it had better continue, as they just watched the one they used to have tell them he’s tail lights come April. Byfield is their key to get into May, this one and the next few beyond that.
Sam Fels is a lost soul in Chicago, IL, where he watched Liverpool FC to feel and watches hockey to not feel. You can follow him on BlueSky @Felsgate and he has his own newsletter on Ghost, https://sam-fels-but-whos-buying.ghost.io/ More about Sam Fels
More Heavy on LA Kings
Loading more stories