Prospect Info: LAK Draft (2nd, 2020) C Quinton Byfield - Sudbury Wolves, OHL

[Eagle Fang]

Byfield looks almost like a different player so far with the Reign compared to the WJC. My biggest criticism during the WJC of him was he would bumble pucks and couldn't really maintain any puck control. So far with the Reign the puck looks sticky on his stick. He looks good.... and fast! Picked up his first pro assist too. I like it

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Byfield looks almost like a different player so far with the Reign compared to the WJC. My biggest criticism during the WJC of him was he would bumble pucks and couldn't really maintain any puck control. So far with the Reign the puck looks sticky on his stick. He looks good.... and fast! Picked up his first pro assist too. I like it

Came to say exactly the same thing.

Looked exactly like the Sudbury player.

 

[ru4reals]

Byfield looks almost like a different player so far with the Reign compared to the WJC. My biggest criticism during the WJC of him was he would bumble pucks and couldn't really maintain any puck control. So far with the Reign the puck looks sticky on his stick. He looks good.... and fast! Picked up his first pro assist too. I like it

That's why WJC should never be a used for judging a players future. Some will be good some will be bad. Byfield is going to be just fine. He looked great tonight be it the A. Don't regret one bit picking big 55.

 

[apocalypse]

Where can I find highlights of reign games?

 

[Eagle Fang]

Came to say exactly the same thing.

Looked exactly like the Sudbury player.

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed it... because really, he looked like a completely different player.

That's why WJC should never be a used for judging a players future. Some will be good some will be bad. Byfield is going to be just fine. He looked great tonight be it the A. Don't regret one bit picking big 55.

Honestly, when I saw Byfield in the WJCs, I low-key thought "is this really the 2nd overall pick that we took?" and it had nothing to do with points. In addition to the puck issues I mentioned, he looked passive and kind of just there taking up space. He had speed and power to his game and threw some hits, but not much else.

1 game only, but Reign Byfield showed a lot of what he was touted for. Speed, power and agility, but more than that, the sense he wanted to be a difference maker. He initiated plays, created plays, looked to have a lot of confidence, and imo was ONT's best player in the game. Saw none of the puck control issues from the WJCs and seemed to carry the puck in the offensive and neutral zones very effectively. I can see how is play making is rated good, but not elite, but he showed flashes of why he is considered a potentially special player.

I was very happy with his game tonight and if THIS Byfield is what LA is getting, I could care less about what Stutzle is doing right now.

 

[driller1]

I liked what I saw as well. Hope Kopi can teach the kid how to squeeze past a defender using size while maintaining control of the puck on the boards. Seemed like there were a few times the defender got position and leverage and forced the puck free. Kopi is a master of using brute strength to force his way past those situations.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I saw byfield on 3rd line, did they move him up and who were his line mates mostly?

kinda lookin forward to the reign vs gulls match up Wednesday.... a lot of fun prospects to watch match up with each other

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

The other thing he did masterfully was zone entries, good lord no one even wanted to step up to him there

 

[DoktorJeep]

I caught the game from the second period on. QB tried to stick handle through a crowd a few times. It’s interesting because he was trying to work the puck between guys skates.

He didn’t turn those attempts into an offensive chance. But at his age, to have confidence to do that in the game was nice to see. The worry is that he tries to do too much and people start to criticize him. It’s a lot of fun to see these kids playing and see their early strides.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

I caught the game from the second period on. QB tried to stick handle through a crowd a few times. It’s interesting because he was trying to work the puck between guys skates.

He didn’t turn those attempts into an offensive chance. But at his age, to have confidence to do that in the game was nice to see. The worry is that he tries to do too much and people start to criticize him. It’s a lot of fun to see these kids playing and see their early strides.

Luckily Wroblewski doesn't seem like the kind of coach to take that from a kid's game.

Hell i HOPE he gets that criticism given the previous worry was "wow he's passive and doesn't try to take over the game enough)

Like with Kupari, sure you want to minimize some of the dumb turnovers, but do you really want to turn a skilled kid into a north-south bubble hockey hockeybot? We've had no problem finding and grooming those. Excited to see Wrob let the kids figure out their identities.

 

[Sol]

Let's hope he keeps improving and make his second overall drafting look unquestionably worth it.

 

[wings5]

Looks like Byfield might be heading back to the OHL , too bad as the AHL seems like the perfect league for him at this stage.

 

[Herby]

Looks like Byfield might be heading back to the OHL , too bad as the AHL seems like the perfect league for him at this stage.

Unfortunate. The Kings may have 2 players who's development are going to suffer because of this.

I wish the Kings would just move both up to the NHL before March 1st OHL quarantine and not have to worry about it.

 

[funky]

Hopefully Byfield and Kaliyev get another month in the AHL prior to heading back to quarantine

 

[driller1]

Unfortunate. The Kings may have 2 players who's development are going to suffer because of this.

I wish the Kings would just move both up to the NHL before March 1st OHL quarantine and not have to worry about it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings kept Byfield and Arty Party in the AHL until the absolute last minute in March to give them as much playing time as possible, then calling them up for a cup of coffee (7 games). Then they will send them back to the OHL for a few games. If there is a Memorial Cup, then its good experience. If not, then I believe they can go back to the AHL once the OHL season is over.

 

[KingLB]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings kept Byfield and Arty Party in the AHL until the absolute last minute in March to give them as much playing time as possible, then calling them up for a cup of coffee (7 games). Then they will send them back to the OHL for a few games. If there is a Memorial Cup, then its good experience. If not, then I believe they can go back to the AHL once the OHL season is over.

Pretty much my exact thought.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Just looking at the reaction to that tweet doesn't seem like we're the only ones with that concern, even though I feel it affects Byfield and kaliyev more than most.

Seems counterproductive to development to wait until April to play 24 more junior games, maybe wishful thinking but maybe they'll allow an out

 

[King'sPawn]

I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings kept Byfield and Arty Party in the AHL until the absolute last minute in March to give them as much playing time as possible, then calling them up for a cup of coffee (7 games). Then they will send them back to the OHL for a few games. If there is a Memorial Cup, then its good experience. If not, then I believe they can go back to the AHL once the OHL season is over.

This is what I would do, although I think 7 games is the cutoff. So I'd play them 6.

 

[KINGS17]

Looks like Byfield might be heading back to the OHL , too bad as the AHL seems like the perfect league for him at this stage.

24-game season? Don't bother.

 

[kingsboy11]

Good news is that we have until April which gives them ample amounts of game time with the Reign. Having said that a 24 game season is ridiculous, and that's not including potentially playoffs and then Memorial cup after that. If there are playoffs/Memorial Cup, Sudbury and Hamilton are going trade Byfield and Kaliyev to playoff teams the instant they set foot back in Ontario.

Can someone remind me what the rules of the taxi squad are? Is it possible we just keep them on the Taxi squad the remainder of the season and not play them or do they have to be on the NHL roster? Because honestly I don't see the point in 24+ OHL games once they've gotten a lot of AHL games.

 

[wings5]

24-game season? Don't bother.

The WHL is doing the same. I think it's best he's traded to a good OHL team that can go on a run or, he can stay on Sudbury and the Kings can hope he finishes his season early so he can go back to the AHL.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Good news is that we have until April which gives them ample amounts of game time with the Reign. Having said that a 24 game season is ridiculous, and that's not including potentially playoffs and then Memorial cup after that. If there are playoffs/Memorial Cup, Sudbury and Hamilton are going trade Byfield and Kaliyev to playoff teams the instant they set foot back in Ontario.

Can someone remind me what the rules of the taxi squad are? Is it possible we just keep them on the Taxi squad the remainder of the season and not play them or do they have to be on the NHL roster? Because honestly I don't see the point in 24+ OHL games once they've gotten a lot of AHL games.

I imagine they'll have two weeks ish of training camp before that though, so more like mid-March imo. But I'm with you even so, I can't imagine a world in which it's now better for Byfield to play 24 more junior games, even on a contender.

 

[SettlementRichie10]

Pretty hilarious how much power these Canadian high school leagues wield over the best interests of multi-billion dollar franchises.

 

[tbrown33]

Pretty hilarious how much power these Canadian high school leagues wield over the best interests of multi-billion dollar franchises.

And the best interests of the actual players

 

[Sparky206]

Rotate them into the taxi squad then give them their cups of coffee in NHL up to the maximum throughout march when the OHL asks for them back, then ask OHL what they want them to do once the season starts and they haven't quarantined due to being in NHL squad?