I still don't think 6 pts Byfield skates well.... Actually worse than last season. But hey, if he gets points anyway good for him.
Sorry to bring this back up, but since basically any negative opinion on Byfield was ridiculed after his 6 pts vs Switzerland I thought it could be worth explaining the why behind it. If he regains his skating or if he manages to put up points without it, great for him. My point yesterday was that he looks slow and/or not agile. I only saw half of the game and like 1 Byfield pt though...
He's absolutely massive, got a dynamite shot, a decent pass, and has phenomenal straight line speed. There is a lot to like there, and even with me being fairly low on the player, I have to admit it is hard not to see the potential for this kid to be an absolute monster if he figures things out.
That being said, honestly I think he is a deeply flawed player at this point in time. His edgework is atrocious for a player picked this high in the NHL draft; he skates on his edges like a wilted husk of a man whose skating talents McDavid harvested for his own personal gain. When he turns he has the vigor and dexterity of a Naval Aircraft Carrier going full steam ahead. For a behemothly large kid, he seems to fall apart in traffic, and loses more puck battles than he wins. You see the frame, add the pedigree, and you think he would control the puck and the game like a Kopitar, Draisaitl or a Thornton does, but he plays the game very similiar to a guy like say a Marian Gaborik... most of his highlights seem to be him winding up and finding a hole in a way he doesn't have the agility to achieve in the NHL. He also kind of lacks any dynamism to his attack, seems like he just goes as fast as he can until he needs to slow down to not lose the puck. Which, again, I would say another big weakness to his game is his puck control and handling at top speeds, just seems like his hands can't keep up.
There is maybe a player there, a damn good one perhaps, but he has some real growing to do, imo. For one, he needs to spend like 3 straight years with the best skating coach he can find. For two, he needs some real work on his puck control. Finally, he really needs to add some jam to his game; the biggest guy in the damn scrum shouldn't be the most tentitive. He's 6'5 220 playing against guys who are like 5'8 180...He ought to win every damn puck battle. He shouldn't be shying away from a little contact; let that defender drape his way on you and just put your shoulder down and drive the puck to the net...
The big question for me, is does he lack the will to play that kind of game? Or does he simply not know how because he's always been towering so far above his peers physically that he hasn't really had to ? It kind of reminds me of a Young Joe Thornton; its ludicrous now, but the biggest criticism of his game when he was a top draft pick with similiar pedigree was questions about if there was any fight in the dog. Hell, Joe Thornton's WJC in his Draft year he only scored 4 points in 9 games @ -3. Of course, some 20+ years later, Thornton is regarded as one of the players with perhaps the most fight in the league. A guy who after breaking his arm in the third game of a playoff series, went on to play the remaining 4 games.
I suppose the big positive for Byfield is that he's already a force at this level with the aforementioned flaws. With hard work, good leadership, and some luck I could easily see him being one of the best players in the league. I could also see him being the next Hugh Jessiman... but I digress.