Would LA still pick Byfield in a redraft?

[Raccoon Jesus]

I get it you want to defend your team, but your exaggeration of the prospects LA has is nothing short of homerism.
Bjornfot, Turcotte, Kupari, Clague are not surefire NHLers, they've had less than stellar starts so far (way too early to write them off, but also way too early to say they were good picks).

As far as your comment on drafting during "Contender" years you still had plenty of 2nd rounders and many of them turned out to bust (Zykov, Gibson, McKeown, Lintuniemi). It's also not like you had lower end 1st round picks. You didn't mention the Teubert and Forbort picks.
Also you named three players LA drafted but didn't keep; only Kubalik is a good pick the rest are dime a dozen.
Your next batch of "stars" have been decent in the minor leagues, but I wouldn't be shocked if any of them become more than bottom-6ers. Similar to the Kempe, Amadio type.
Anderson-Dolan looking like Point-lite is funny. If 6 games is enough to warrant that term, than Max Lajoie was Karlsson-lite.
Mikey Anderson has looked good alongside Doughty, but that could be more of Doughty making it easy on him; time will tell.

You're calling me a homer but I've given you facts (like Vilardi 2nd in rookie goals, Kupari was leading AHL in scoring before callup), you're the one editorializing about an organization you clearly know next to nothing about while selectively and systematically disqualifying "good picks."

But here, I'll let others speak for me.



Analyzing 16 years of NHL draft data to see which teams have done it the best (and worst)

Best and Worst Teams at Finding NHL Players from the Draft

Saying LA sucks at drafting is...quite a take given their 2 Cups is largely built on that and their current restocking is as well.

Look, we get it. You love your shiny new toy, LA sucks, you're still mad about Due Doughty so you'll do anything you can to show how dumb we are. But you're showing you're completely out of your depth when it comes to actually knowing anything about the Kings.

And in any case to tie it back to the thread if LA spent months agonizing over their Stutzle/Byfield decision with mounds of game tape that you and I didn't watch, then with their drafting and development history (let's not forget their success with UDFAs, not just late round picks), I trust that those thoughts aren't invalidated by 20 NHL games of Stutzle scoring at a Yakupov pace given we assumed Byfield would be in juniors today anyway.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yes. Why wouldn’t they?

 

[MrGuyPerson]

This poll is premature and flawed. I am as high on Stü as person can be and also was predraft, but there is really no reason for the Kings to regret anything.

Byfield still currently projects to be exactly what the Kings had in mind when they drafted him. Which is their future franchise player.

Tim/Jim also will be a franchise player. Seeing the chemistry start to come together between him and the other young bucks in Ottawa is pretty special.

Both players will have immense value to their respective franchise so debating which player is/will be overall better is semantics and kind of irrelevant. This sport is about teams winning cups not being the best individual talent. Yeah Ovie is better than Marchand/Bergeron, but does that make Marchand/Bergeron them any less important or valuable to their respective franchise and its success?

Ultimately, Byfield doesn't need to be better than Tim, he just needs to great for his team for this pick to be the right one for the Kings. The only way this poll is relevant is if Byfield is a bust. Which I, and I imagine most hockey fans, do not believe is this case.

 

[Dr Salt]

No, the idea around the league whether you agree with or not seemed to perceive Byfield as needing a year, and any success Stutzle does or does not have in his rookie season I think makes LA regret this. Way too early for this to be a discussion.

 

[NyQuil]

Analyzing 16 years of NHL draft data to see which teams have done it the best (and worst)

Best and Worst Teams at Finding NHL Players from the Draft

It's nice to see statistical analyses showing how good Ottawa is at drafting.

 

[majormajor]

Far far too early for this....

Everyone saying Stutzle would go first overall is absolutely being too early with their opinions.

Jeff Skinner won the Calder in his rookie season while Tyler Seguin scored 20 points. Players take time to develop.

You say far too early in March 2021, but it somehow wasn't too early six months ago? It's less too early now! The draft is always too early, you're always doing your best with incomplete information.

Players move up and down team's draft boards based on a strong tournament, a hot scoring streak, or a bad junior playoff or something ephemeral like that. It's silly to think that scoring 8 pts in his last 8 NHL games wouldn't greatly elevate Stutzle's stock. He was already ahead of Byfield on many lists at the time of the draft. He assuredly would be ahead on more if the draft was today, I'd expect 31/31.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

It's nice to see statistical analyses showing how good Ottawa is at drafting.

Ottawa is excellent at drafting and I definitely didn't need the stats to know it

But it sure is nice when the eye test and stats align, fortunately/unfortunately that's been Melnyk's saving grace over the years, and gives you guys lots of viewing pleasure

 

[NyQuil]

Ottawa is excellent at drafting and I definitely didn't need the stats to know it

But it sure is nice when the eye test and stats align, fortunately/unfortunately that's been Melnyk's saving grace over the years, and gives you guys lots of viewing pleasure

Lately it just makes us good at donating players to the rest of the league.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

This poll is premature and flawed. I am as high on Stü as person can be and also was predraft, but there is really no reason for the Kings to regret anything.

Byfield still currently projects to be exactly what the Kings had in mind when they drafted him. Which is their future franchise player.

Tim/Jim also will be a franchise player. Seeing the chemistry start to come together between him and the other young bucks in Ottawa is pretty special.

Both players will have immense value to their respective franchise so debating which player is/will be overall better is semantics and kind of irrelevant. This sport is about teams winning cups not being the best individual talent. Yeah Ovie is better than Marchand/Bergeron, but does that make Marchand/Bergeron them any less important or valuable to their respective franchise and its success?

Ultimately, Byfield doesn't need to be better than Tim, he just needs to great for his team for this pick to be the right one for the Kings. The only way this poll is relevant is if Byfield is a bust. Which I, and I imagine most hockey fans, do not believe is this case.

The Tkachuk bromance and TS's meme-ability was an unforeseen amazing byproduct of Stutzle going to the Sens!

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Lately it just makes us good at donating players to the rest of the league.

I know

I was trying to silver-lining it. The best I can come up with is hey, when Melnyk has had enough, Sens can blow up with just homegrown kids. May still happen in spite of him, too!

Actually I have visions of Pierre Dorion in a dimly-lit room with the entire staff going "okay guys, we're going to have to win with a team of entirely RFAs. Let's go."

 

[Voight]

Byfield will end up the best player out of that draft.

 

[Asquaredx2]

Sens fan saying yes. It's still way, way too early.

 

[jcs0218]

Byfield may turn out to be a star in the NHL. Nobody knows.

But I will say this: Byfield has looked like garbage every time he has played against elite competition. Especially at the World Juniors.

One's junior play doesn't always dictate how a player's professional career will go. However, he hasn't looked good at all on the elite junior stage.

 

[KevinRedkey]

Raymond went up in the draft because he had been doing well leading up to the draft. You gotta think Stutzle's NHL performance would do the same for him. Hype sells.

 

[93LEAFS]

Probably, but it wasn't the pick I would have made at the time.

 

[Tetsuo]

Raymond went up in the draft because he had been doing well leading up to the draft. You gotta think Stutzle's NHL performance would do the same for him. Hype sells.

That's not true at all. Raymond, like Seider, had a relatively quiet pre-draft season because he was playing in his countries top league as a 17 year old on a stacked team. Many people in the hockey community did not view him as a slam dunk for Detroit to take (though quite a few did, myself included). To top it off, both prior to the draft and after the fact, Yzerman made is abundantly clear that the few European games that were held prior to the draft did not have any significant influence on who they drafted. To put it another way, Hakan Andersson, Detroit's Director of European Scouting aka the guy directly responsible for Datsyuk and Zetterberg, used to serve on the board of directors for Frolunda, and he liked Raymond from an extremely early period on in his development. There literally is no scout on the planet, let alone in the NHL, who is more familiar with Raymond than Hakan.

---
I guess to keep my comment on topic: I see no reason why LA would regret picking Byfield. He was always known to be much more raw than Laf and Stutzle, owing to his size and his August birthday. If he can put it all together, then he will be their franchise center, and pretty cleanly take over the reins from Kopitar. Heading up the lottery, I was pretty comfortable with both Byfield and Stutzle, though I slightly preferred Byfield because of how rare his package of skills truly are. Ultimately, time will tell if that bet they took on Byfield was correct, but it's too early to regret it.

 

[MrThomas]

Noway Byfield is nothing like Stuzle. Not even close

 

[biturbo19]

The Kings would absolutely still pick Byfield. They're not gonna throw out their scouting based on a small early sample post-draft. I would've gone with Stutzle at the draft, and still would...but it doesn't really have anything to do with how they've looked in a handful of games in their first year post draft.

 

[Dr Salt]

That's not true at all. Raymond, like Seider, had a relatively quiet pre-draft season because he was playing in his countries top league as a 17 year old on a stacked team. Many people in the hockey community did not view him as a slam dunk for Detroit to take (though quite a few did, myself included). To top it off, both prior to the draft and after the fact, Yzerman made is abundantly clear that the few European games that were held prior to the draft did not have any significant influence on who they drafted. To put it another way, Hakan Andersson, Detroit's Director of European Scouting aka the guy directly responsible for Datsyuk and Zetterberg, used to serve on the board of directors for Frolunda, and he liked Raymond from an extremely early period on in his development. There literally is no scout on the planet, let alone in the NHL, who is more familiar with Raymond than Hakan.

---
I guess to keep my comment on topic: I see no reason why LA would regret picking Byfield. He was always known to be much more raw than Laf and Stutzle, owing to his size and his August birthday. If he can put it all together, then he will be their franchise center, and pretty cleanly take over the reins from Kopitar. Heading up the lottery, I was pretty comfortable with both Byfield and Stutzle, though I slightly preferred Byfield because of how rare his package of skills truly are. Ultimately, time will tell if that bet they took on Byfield was correct, but it's too early to regret it.

Raymond was legit the reverse case of Seider to Detroit calling his name, because he was the strong favorite for #3 pre-WJC before Stutzle took a hold of that in many people's eyes. He was kinda falling (very lightly) pre-draft while Seider was rising. I never went low on him, but people who did probably sweetened back up after the pick and this year.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

Yes, yes they would.

 

[bert]

Yikes

Says all you need to know about that poster.

 

[bert]

He's on almost exactly the Nail Yakupov rookie pace. How did that movie turn out?

Would you say it's too early to call Stutzle Yakupov?

Wow there goes your credibility.

At one point the "no" option was at nearly 70% and it reads as the usual suspects who's who of Sens homers and Kings haters. Did you guys preplan this again? It's getting yawn-worthy.

So are your brutal takes. Guess it works both ways.

I'd like to point out that no one at this point likely changes their pick. Everyone knows Byfields upside he was always a long term player/project and Stutzle was more NHL ready. What they have done so far doesnt matter it's what they end up being in their primes. Where Byfields upside is extremely high.

Now the Turcotte pick that's one they probably wish they had a do over on.

 

[bert]

I don’t know that I agree. Stuetzle has pretty bad advanced stats. Lafreniere actually is better in just about all these categories. The difference right now appears to be entirely on ice shooting percentage between the two players, so you can make a pretty good case he’s not the best among the two in the NHL. There’s also everyone else. I had Drysdale at #2 at the draft. Unless Stuetzle showed a level I did not foresee in the reasonable range of possibilities, I was not coming off that opinion after two months of play.

I think it’s flawed to think that a player is proven better if they are better over a small stretch in their D+1 season. I don’t look at the draft like that. I don’t think most NHL decision makers do either. Players build up reputations. That includes the D+1 season, but I don’t think there’s one giant reset after the draft. If you thought Byfield was better at the draft, you probably still should. And I say that as someone who prefers Stuetzle to Byfield and did at the draft.

Watch a hockey game. If you think it's only on ice shooting percentage that is differentiating between Stutzle and Lafreniere right now you simply can't evaluate. You are unable to decipher hockey with your eyes at a very basic level.

Doesn't mean Lafreniere won't be better some day but he isn't remotely close to being better right now.

 

[BritainStix]

Neither team will be unhappy with their selection. I do think Stutzle will be the best player of the draft however.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

I thought some people were way too much on the Byfield bandwagon due to his combination of size and skill.

Stützle had a weak shot and was playing in a below average pro league. That was annoying to read.

That said; I am fully behind this selection. Byfield is playing in the AHL which would not have been possible without Covid. He is extremely young for this league, aug 2002 and his doing really fine. Yet some here want to believe us otherwise....laughable. Born two months later and he was in this years draft.