Los Angeles Kings center Quinton Byfield wants former teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois to do well after discussing why it didn't work out in L.A. for the new Capitals center.
Los Angeles Kings center Quinton Byfield was front and center last season when Pierre-Luc Dubois spent his first and only season with the Kings.
Dubois was traded to the Washington Capitals this summer, but Byfield spoke very highly of him and didn’t blame him for the way things turned out.
“That’s a tough one – I don’t have much to say on that one,” Byfield told THN.com's Michael Traikos at this year’s NHL/NHLPA Player Media Tour. Dubois “was a really good guy to have in the dressing room. We all really liked him as a guy. There’s just some fits that just don’t work. It was one of those situations where maybe we played a different style than he was used to, and it just didn’t fit.
“That kind of just happens, and you move on. Hopefully, (Dubois) has a really good season with Washington this year. He’s such a good guy. I want him to do well.”
The 22-year-old Byfield also told Traikos about the expectations that have ratcheted up for him this year, especially now that he’s entering the first year of a contract extension that pays him an average annual value of $6.25 million.
Byfield already posted career-high offense totals of 20 goals and 55 points last season. With Dubois out of the fold, Byfield’s now projected to be the Kings’ No. 2 center and feature on the first power-play unit. His production should rise accordingly.
“The contract means the team has a lot of faith in me, and they expect a lot from me,” Byfield said. “It was kind of a deal that we came to that both sides really liked and agreed on. They expect a lot more from me now. With that length and value, I expect more for myself.”
Earlier in September, Dubois discussed his change of scenery with French-language publication La Presse. He said he couldn't quite get into a rhythm with former Kings coach Todd McLellan, and although his teammates helped him try to gain confidence in a new setting, it didn't work out.
He's in a different situation now in Washington, saying he spoke with Capitals coach Spencer Carbery about him as a person before him as a player.
"He asked me if I'd had time to call my father, if my girlfriend had welcomed the trade," Dubois told La Presse via a translation on The Hockey News' Capitals site. "He asked me how I'd reacted. I'd never had a conversation like this with a coach. He was interested in me."
While Dubois seeks a better fit than what Byfield described in L.A., the latter's squad turns its focus to getting the most out of the season ahead. After a third-straight first-round exit to the Edmonton Oilers, The Hockey News' Yearbook projects the Kings to finish fourth in the Pacific Division.
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