A considerable amount of pressure comes with being a first-round pick. That pressure reaches a boiling point within the top ten. The top five are expected to lead their future teams through possible rebuilds, with playoff aspirations from fan bases starved of seeing their teams play in the promise land, the NHL playoffs. Teams would only draft in the top five if they manage to get through deplorable seasons, finishing near or at the bottom.
Quinton Byfield became the highest draft pick the Kings have drafted since Drew Doughty in 2008. The Kings in their history have only drafted at the number two position just two other times:
1981: Dough Smith from the Ottawa 67's
Smith played five seasons for the LA Kings before landing in Buffalo
1986: Jimmy Carson from the Verdun Jr. Canadians
Carson got two seasons in for the LA Kings before heading off to Edmonton in the culture-changing, blockbuster trade for Wayne Gretzky.
As second-overall picks go, the Kings struck gold with Drew Doughty, and while they didn't win a championship with Gretzky after moving Carson, it changed the hockey culture in Southern California forever.
As a second overall pick, Byfield was seen as the heir apparent to Anze Kopitar. He was and is seen as the future of the franchise.
With that type of raw package, speed, skill, size, and IQ, bigger players need a longer time to develop in the NHL. Very rarely do they put it all together. We have seen it in the last few seasons with Buffalo's Tage Thompson or, to a lesser extent, the career of Anthony Mantha.
He's had abysmal luck with injuries and illnesses to start his NHL career (have the Kings not already experienced that enough with their prospects?). Still, a silver lining during the pandemic allowed his OHL career to be placed on hold and play in the AHL. That experience expedited what was already a promising career in the Pros.
In his 21-year-old season, Byfield has finally broken out. In his prior season, he was moved to the wing to play alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe over the second half of the year, and since then, it has sparked immediate dividends.
Line of Kempe-Kopitar-Byfield
2023-24: 7th best xGoals % -for lines playing over 400 mins together
2022-23: 8th best xGoals % - for lines playing over 400 mins together
Give a lot of credit to Todd McLellan for making this happen and seeing the results come to fruition.
Since he's taken over, Jim Hiller has given Byfield the extra leash needed to be a star in this league. Byfield has just under a point-per-game player under Hiller, with 11 points (4-7 +2). He has played 19 mins three times over that stretch, four times over 20 mins, and one game where he established a new career high of 22:49.
Before Hiller, Quinton Byfield never broke the 19-minute mark. He hit the 18-minute mark five times under McLellan.
"It's a product of how he can skate and the energy that he has. He probably could have played another three or four to be honest with you, he didn't even look tired, but he's somebody that we can double back and, he plays good minutes for us. In this type of a game, when you need to check, Quinton can handle that" Hiller on Byfield, postgame 2/29/24
That's an NHL coach, who just played Byfield to his new career high TOI, boasting that he could've played 25-27 minutes. The new 11-7 format has helped Byfield get more minutes due to the injuries in the lineup, and he's taken advantage of the opportunity.
With or without the new format, be's become an imposing and more complete player, which is backed by his 32 takeaways to 10 giveaways ratio. Though he isn't playing the position he was drafted for, and he is at some point going to take over for the captain, he has been playing alongside a future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
Mins/Expected Goals/Assists/Points/Primary Assists/Secondary Assists
2023-24: 922/ 21.1/ 18 /28/ 46/ 16/ 2
2022-23: 745/ 10.6/ 3/ 19/ 22/ 10/ 9
2021-22: 486/ 5.6/ 5/ 5/ 10/ 4/ 1
2020-21: 90/ 0.6/ 0/ 1/ 1/ 0/ 1
Byfield has developed further due to the increases in ice time, and what is primarily more impressive as the season goes on is that he does it with half of the special team's duties. He plays on the powerplay but not on the penalty kill.
Players like Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe regularly hit the 19-20+ min mark because they play both sides of special teams, and the same could go for players like Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore.
That shows that Quinton Byfield is part of a handful of players who get the vast majority of minutes due to the coaching staff's trust in all situations.
It's not just the highlight reel goal he produced the other week, but the backchecks and the 50/50 puck battles he wins regularly. He is a force to be reckoned with when he flies into the zone. He consistently wins those puck battles down low and is getting more comfortable with free-wheeling off the wall.
A 6'5 player with speed and strength, with the hands to boot, is a mighty task to defend. If he has time and space, he's a very dangerous player. It's a nightmare to contest for teams like Vancouver that play zone coverage.
Byfield will likely finish the season in the 60-point range (20-40) with ease if he continues to play the way he's playing under Hiller and getting those increased minutes.
He broke out under McLellan, but he's becoming a star under Hiller.