Vilardi's big thing was getting healthy and gaining confidence. Pretty sure they can use him at Center if needed. Besides, Kopitar has 1 year left on his contract and I would expect him to re-sign for another couple. Byfield is still only 20. How about we wait and see how the next couple years of development shake out before pulling the zip cord?
It’s pretty impressive how people like you make it sound like the Kings drafted Byfield when he was 12. Kopitar in his teens undressed Pronger in his first game in the NHL quicker than his wife ever could. Byfield has shown that he’s nowhere close to Vilardi’s skill level. Vilardi even before he took a big step forward the signs were there because you could easily see he was very skilled. Just slow.
If you’re trying to tell me that Byfield has shown he’s even close to Vilardi in terms of talent than I have a bridge I am willing to sell just to you. For a great price.
Byfield is nearly 21 and has shown very little displays of high end talent so what the hell are you waiting on really? Vilardi showed a lot of talent even when he was playing poorly.
Shit Yakupov was a bust and he showed a lot more prowess in his early years in the NHL. Why are you so sure of yourself when there’s such little to go off that suggests byfield has a high ceiling. There’s a lot pointing towards Byfield being an underwhelming player than anything.
Vilardi is by far the best forward from the rebuild which is why Blake has done poorly. This is why the team is so veteran reliant. They failed at developing and drafting high end talent.