On Monday the Los Angeles Kings signed Quinton Byfield to a 5-year contract at a $6.25 million AAV.
There was a lot of conversation about whether Byfield would get a short-term bridge deal or a long-term one.
The answer was, something in the middle.
This deal makes sense for both sides, the Kings get Byfield locked up for the medium-term and Byfield gets to re-sign in the middle of his prime.
Not only is Byfield locked up medium-term, he's signed to a very fair deal in the short-term and has the potential to be one of the best value contracts in the league very soon.
Let's start with the short-term. Byfield was already one of the team's best forwards last season.
He was their most creative passer per AllThreeZones tracking data, was tied with Trevor Moore for the teams WAR lead and played at a $7.4 million value per The Athletic's player card model.
He was also the team's second-most productive 5v5 player.
He's already worth the value of his contract at just 21, soon-to-be 22.
Amongst his peers, U-22 players last season, Byfield was the sixth most productive player and the best defensive player among those above him.
He was also the main driver for his line at such a young age.
His impact on the Kings' top line is undeniable. Over the last two seasons, without Byfield Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe have been outscored 30-34.
With Byfield they've outscored opponents 61-26.
So, worst case scenario, Byfield stagnates and can't make the move back to center.
Not ideal, but he's still a play driving top line winger who has a massive positive impact on the first line. That's a $6.25 million player already.
Best case scenario, he makes the transition back to center and continues to develop as he moves into his mid-twenties.
If that happens, the Kings are very quickly paying a true top-six, two-way center just $6.25 million per year.
With the cap projected to continue increasing, that will be an absolute steal for Byfield.
It will look similar to Nathan MacKinnon's previous contract with the Colorado Avalanche.
Byfield could make that happen by the end of this season. Even if his offense doesn't increase, if he's a 20-goal, 55-point 2C posting similar play-driving and two-way results, he's outperforming his contract.
As he takes over the 1C role from Kopitar over the next few seasons, that contract will continue to look like a steal for LA.
The compensation for LA likely getting so much value is Byfield getting to UFA status so quickly.
The Kings will have Byfield signed for just one of his UFA seasons before he becomes available.
LA now has a player who's, at minimum, worth his contract signed for five years and will very likely see him outperforming his AAV very quickly.
Whatever criticisms Rob Blake has faced, this contract can't be included, this is a great deal for the Kings.