Was this the first game you watched the kings this year? The third line has been like that pretty much all season. And every line Brown has been on was similarly dragged down and every line AA has been on was similarly dragged down. Byfield should be in the nhl learning what he can and cant do against pros. Hell be fine.
AA was playing well on the Danault-Iafalo line. Then he got hurt.
What other line did AA drag down?
Sounds like you're working a narrative.
Players should not be struggling as badly as Byfield is struggling.
The good news is, this is not an emergency. Yet.
You can send him to the AHL for 40-60 games until he tears the league apart.
You've got 2-3-4 guys who can do the job at an NHL level better than him.
Byfield was always going to be a raw prospect.
The kid was raw and at the WJCs in his draft year.
He was very good in junior - but not exactly dominant. He needs to learn how to use his size and skill and speed. Even in the OHL, he was just toying with 5'9 150 pounders - doing things that were never going to work in the NHL against men.
It's not about how good Byfield is at 19.
It's about how good he'll be at 22.
And the Kings need to start thinking big picture here.