EDMONTON, Alberta — The pressure valve popped for Quinton Byfield when it needed to. As he prepares for his third postseason, and a first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, one in which he’s expected to have a big presence, that pressure will reset and build again, until success provides another release.
That release is a sweet feeling. In the Los Angeles Kings’ season finale against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, Byfield got to the net and presented his stick blade for a tap-in of Phillip Danault’s pass on a power play. The rush of scoring a goal had eluded him for 19 consecutive games.
But the feeling rushed back. It was a big one for the 21-year-old. Hitting the milestone of 20 goals was meaningful, triggering bonuses in his entry-level contract, and … well, it was made clear how the team as a whole was going to benefit.
Byfield will be footing the bill for a team dinner.
“I don’t think he’s getting away with just a couple,” Anže Kopitar, the Kings’ captain said. “We’ll make sure it’s a nice team meal and then some.”
With a smile, Byfield said after the overtime victory, “Oh yeah. That goal and assist tonight definitely going to cost me a lot.”
But the goal was an important one for his psyche. It is a reminder of the huge growth that he has made in his third true season. Another sign that there is more in store, possibly much more for the No. 2 pick of the 2021 draft who finally had the breakthrough the Kings patiently waited on, and the greater hockey world wondered if it was coming — or at least when.
“I felt good again, which is really nice,” he said.
“Getting that goal is an extra boost. It’s going to be good for me.”
Interest always follows No. 1 draft picks. They come with massive expectations, and some are viewed as franchise-changing players, if not generational superstars. For every Nail Yakupov, who fails to make a major impact in the NHL, there are many more who become the defining elements of their teams and the league. Sidney Crosby. Connor McDavid. Alex Ovechkin. Patrick Kane. Nathan MacKinnon.
But scrutiny isn’t limited to the No. 1s. Being the No. 2 choice comes with its own set of ideals. Those players are not projected to be bit players or roster-fillers. They are expected to become core pieces who will influence their clubs for many years. Players such as Jack Eichel, Patrik Laine, Andrei Svechnikov, Matty Beniers and Leo Carlsson, the most recent No. 2 pick, were already important pieces during their first spin around the league.
In 2020, Alexis Lafrenière went No. 1 to the New York Rangers, as was widely expected. The Kings were up next, and the consensus considerations at the time were Byfield, who starred for the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves, and Tim Stützle, a standout in his native Germany’s top pro league and an eye-opening force in the previous world juniors.
The thought was that Stützle was the more NHL-ready player initially, but that the tremendous upside Byfield had, as a high-skilled 6-foot-5 center, would make his additional seasoning worth the wait. That played out. After the Kings drafted Byfield at No. 2 and watched him develop at lower levels, the Ottawa Senators took Stützle at No. 3 and quickly dropped him in their NHL lineup.
Stützle gained a foothold in his first two seasons and then blew up for 39 goals and 90 points last season. On the other hand, Byfield had a tough time gaining traction. A broken ankle sidelined him for the first half of 2021-22. An illness, which caused him to lose 25 pounds early in 2022-23, set him back and required more time in the American Hockey League. After he had only three goals in 53 games last season, comparisons to Stützle brought into question the Kings’ choice of Byfield over an emergent star.
The Kings heard the rumblings that they went in the wrong direction. They knew what Stützle was doing. They kept faith in Byfield having his own come-up.
“You don’t have a crystal ball to see exactly how it’s going to go,” said Nelson Emerson, the Kings’ assistant general manager. “That’s why the game’s so great, because it throws you curveballs all the time. Q got one right away at training camp his first year. Had a little setback there. And that’s got to be so hard, when you’re drafted so high and then all of a sudden something like that happens.
“And then Q played in the minors. He’s down in Ontario, and that probably seems different for him and everyone’s looking at him, comparing him maybe to some other players that aren’t going that route. For him, when we drafted him and we talked to (scouting director) Mark Yannetti and our amateur scouts, we thought that this could happen. His timeline could be like this. It’s good to see right now.”
Using a baseball analogy, Emerson equated Byfield’s development and career progression to being in the fourth inning of a full game. “Every player has a different path,” he said. Stützle shared a similar sentiment.
“Not everybody is McDavid and not everybody is Crosby, where you can just come in the league and dominate right away,” Stützle said. “Everybody’s different. For him, it was maybe better to get another year. He’s a big guy, so develop his body that way. Get healthy. He had some injuries, too.
“Everybody is a different person. Some guys are more confident. Some guys are lesser confident. Some guys think they can make it right away. Some guys don’t. As long as the organization believes in the person, believes in the player, I think that’s the biggest part. It seemed like they believed in him. I think that’s pretty good.”
Byfield was happy to see Stützle flourish. What he couldn’t understand was how people could start dropping the dreaded “bust” label on him when he hadn’t played a complete 82-game season.
“It was just people who are talking,” he said. “I played 40, 50 games and you’re calling someone like that. I don’t know. It says what you know about hockey if you’re already stretching on people like that and not giving them full opportunity. I just looked at it and kind of just brushed it off. Just knew what I had.”
Vancouver coach Rick Tocchet used the word “marinate” to describe the Kings’ approach with Byfield. In Tocchet’s mind, it was the best thing they could have done with him. Teams, the coach added, can get into trouble thinking every high draft selection can step right in to handle the NHL grind.
“What L.A. did is, they brought him along slowly and then last year gave him a little bit more piece of the pie,” Tocchet said. “Now, he’s got a big piece of that, where teams are game-planning him. Now when he hits the ice, it’s ‘Where’s 55 on the ice?’
“I think you’ve got to be careful when you pigeon-hole picks. All of a sudden, his maturation should be now. Well, no, it might take two or three years. Because then you’re going to reap the benefits down the road by making sure you don’t give him too much early.”
With Kopitar and Danault entrenched as the team’s top two centers, the Kings presented a situation in which Byfield didn’t have to be thrown into the fire before he was ready.
“Obviously, as a young guy, it’s hard to come in and make an impact,” Kopitar said. “A couple years ago, we were trending upward and everything. For a guy like Q, I can’t imagine it’s the easiest thing to do when you’re trying to break in. There’s people that are playing in front of you that are already established, like myself and Phil. It’s hard. If you’re put in the (3C) slot, you’re not playing obviously the top minutes. And it’s way different from where he came from and what he’s used to, being the guy and everything. It’s hard.
“You look around the league. (Connor) Bedard right now in Chicago – and by no means am I trying to take anything away from him – but he comes in there, he’s the top guy and everybody relies on him. And even if there’s mistakes sometimes, yes, they address them but he’s not going to get punished, per se. I’m not saying that Q did too, or anything, but it’s easier for a coach to just maybe skip him every once in a while. And the mental effect of it, it creeps in sometimes. So, by any means, it wasn’t easy for him at all.”
The irony with the comparisons with Stützle is that Byfield’s emergence has been more like Lafrenière’s breakout, with a 28-goal, 57-point season after three initial years of disappointing production as a No. 1 pick.
“I try to stay away from it, but then obviously you want to see how the other guys are doing,” Byfield said. “I want everyone from my draft to do good. That’s just good for a draft class. If you look at it, we all came in and had different opportunities. No one had the same linear line as the other guy.”
With 20 goals and 55 points, Byfield took a great leap, finishing fifth in both on a balanced club. The goal and assist he had against Chicago earned him an additional $212,500 bonus for each, on top of his $832,500 salary. This breakout year could affect negotiations on a new contract as his rookie deal expires, making him a restricted free agent on July 1.
After making him an untouchable piece in trade discussions, Kings GM Rob Blake will have a greater appetite to extend him but could face a tough decision while working with Byfield’s representatives on a bridge-term second contract or making a long-term commitment up to the maximum of eight years.
Byfield might be worth the big bet. Those around him say he’s always had a good head on his shoulders and has a work ethic that earns respect in the locker room. His willingness to do the grunt work, like winning battles in the corners or backchecking hard to chase down opposing players and create turnovers, is why Kopitar and Adrian Kempe enjoyed him on their line last season and much of this season.
“I think the pressure of being that high of a pick for an organization that needs him to play well can sometimes be tough for guys,” Kings center Blake Lizotte said. “And certainly Q dealt with those same pressures. But I think he did in a way that was productive and worked hard and just trusted the process.
“I think he was very patient and worked hard and knew that it was going to pay off when the time was right.”
To prepare for this season, Byfield worked out with former NHL forward and famed performance trainer Gary Roberts. He strengthened his core and lower half for greater balance, and continued to hone his skating through workouts with renowned coach Barb Underhill. Byfield poured over videos, watching the routes Auston Matthews would take and his release, identifying the quiet areas in the slot that Patrice Bergeron would find, picking up how Ryan O’Reilly would score in tight spots down low. He’d marvel at how Brady and Matthew Tkachuk used their size and hand-eye coordination.
Quinton Byfield has had plenty of reasons to smile in a breakout season. (Gary A. Vasquez / USA Today)
All the work paid off as Byfield more than doubled his shot attempts (313) and shots on goal (161). The best bit of example and advice might have come from Kopitar.
“I guess what I was trying to tell him is, there’s not very many guys that are 6-4 or 6-5 and 225 that can skate like Q,” Kopitar said. “And maybe he was guilty at first (of) just trying to play a skill game when he got here. The skill game doesn’t necessarily get you the consistency that you’re looking at. Yeah, there’s going to be games where you dominate completely with skill.
“But now he’s using his frame. He’s using his speed. He’s using his body to protect pucks. Now, you can tell he’s a lot more consistent making plays. Holding onto the puck versus trying to toe-drag it around guys and do all that stuff, which I know he’s got in his bag. We saw it the other way, obviously. But the consistency of holding onto pucks and wearing people down with the frame that he has, it’s going to help him in the long run.”
Having Kopitar and Danault around has taught Byfield the value of two-way play. Having the captain of the Kings push him to drive the play in shifts, instead of settling on being a complementary piece, was the boost he needed to take flight. His 20-goal season might be the first of several, or it could just be the launching point to future stardom. Interim head coach Jim Hiller said it’s wise to just leave what Byfield’s ceiling is open and let him find that on his own.
“I’ve always had confidence in myself,” Byfield said. “Confidence in my game. I just looked at it as adversity for me. I didn’t have too much adversity in my career until I got to the NHL level. It was different for me. It was hard. Hard being away from the guys when I was hurt. It was hard coming back in the middle of the season and trying to be at that same pace. It was all so different.
“I never lost faith in myself. I knew just from being younger and growing up at all levels, I was always a guy who’d contribute offensively. I knew my time would come and I would get my opportunities. Just kept working and it worked out.”
(Top photo of Quinton Byfield: Ronald Martinez/ Getty Images)
