As he moves to center, Quinton Byfield feels ready to take an important next step forward

The summer brought several shifts for the Kings in terms of the construction of their roster.

None bigger, though, than the plan for Quinton Byfield.

The Kings always saw Byfield as a center in the long run, but the short term fit over the last two seasons has been on the wing, skating on a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. That line was effective, among the league’s best, as they seemed to bring out the best in each other. Frankly, if Plan A had worked out, Byfield would likely be on the wing here this fall. To truly maximize Byfield, though, he always likely had to move back to center.

With the decision to move on from Pierre-Luc Dubois this summer, the path became clearer. The Kings always planned to move Byfield to center on a full-time basis, it was just a matter of when. Now, we’ve seen him in that spot during the first three days of training camp, centering a line with Kevin Fiala and the newly acquired Warren Foegele. In the eyes of his head coach, this was always the long term vision, though perhaps just originally a bit further down the road, though. As it played out, the road came up quicker than the navigation said it would.

“We really have seen Q for a long time to get [back to] center,” Jim Hiller said. “He was drafted as a centerman. I thought did a nice job establishing himself on the wing with Kopi but Q, in our minds, is a centerman and he will be for a long time. There’s no trial period here, we’re not testing him out, Q is a center and he’s going to be doing it for a long time.”

Still, Byfield has spent the bulk of the last 18 months playing on the wing.

That means some changes are needed. You might think faceoffs would be the number-one difference, but Byfield actually kept up with practicing draws even during the season last year, regularly working with the other centers after practices to stay sharp in the dot. For him, it was timing through the middle that was most important and he put a lot of focus on that during summer skates.

“I think as the summer went on, it was more so I was trying to work on timing in the middle during those drills, getting away from wing,” Byfield said. “Just working back at center ice, I feel like everything’s going to come back naturally and it’ll all work out.”

That timing was perhaps a bit off during Day 1 of camp on Thursday.

Byfield was adjusting to a number of changes, including his first camp with Jim Hiller in charge, his first camp back at center and his first time in a formal setting playing with a pair of new wingers on a new-look line between Fiala and Foegele. The “BFF” line has a ton of potential, but it’s still an unknown as a trio. As Byfield worked through the first day, he felt like things improved for him into the second skate.

“I felt I was more comfortable [on Day 2], going through the drills and practice definitely helps,” he said. “Getting the routes, better timing, even getting used to the wingers I’ve never played with either, there’s a whole lot new for me. I feel like each day it’s going to keep on getting better and I’m excited for the challenge.”

The positional elements of playing center are things that will work themselves out. It’s not foreign to Byfield. He grew up playing center, he was drafted as a center, he played center in the AHL with the Ontario Reign and has NHL experience playing center.

The real change is the expectation around what him playing center this time around means. The Kings are looking for more from Byfield. They’re looking for a player who can drive his own line. Last season, Byfield broke out offensively with 20 goals and 55 points, despite a late season dip due to an extended illness he played through. Now, he won’t have Kopitar and Kempe to work with and he’ll be asked to be the man driving the play through the middle of the ice.

If you ask his former linemate, Kempe, Byfield is ready for the challenge.

“I think he is a center, I think we need him playing in the middle, especially with how big and strong he is and how good of a season he had last year, I think he can definitely run a line through the middle,” Kempe said of Byfield. “Seeing him over the last couple of weeks, getting with us [in training camp] as well he looks confident out there and that’s what we need. We need another guy to step up and lead out there more.”

Interestingly enough, if you ask his current linemate, Foegele, he’s extremely ready as well.

“For sure,” Foegele said, when asked about Byfield’s ability to drive a line. “He’s got so much skill and he’s got so much speed, and what I’ve noticed through the summer, especially this summer, is his drive to be one of the best. I think that’s a big step for anyone, but especially him trying to make that step to go to center, you know he wants to be the best and you know he’s ready for that responsibility.”

The Kings will need Byfield to be ready, perhaps beyond his years.

It’s easy to forget just how young Byfield is, just turning 22 in August. He’s 6-5, 225 and he looks even bigger and faster this season than he did last. His frame is one that is envied by most around the league and last season, he put the game that matched the body. With a five-year extension signed over the summer, with a substantially higher cap hit, the Kings are depending on Byfield to be the guy to expand their center depth to three lines that are difficult for others to matchup against.

If you ask Danault, Byfield is ready for that challenge.

“[He’s] dynamic, he wants to perform there, he wants to play there, so that’s good,” Danault said. “I see him getting better for sure. I think you could see it last year, he worked really hard at both ends of the ice, he was doing a lot on his line. He wants to play heavy, gets more space for himself and his teammates and he allows them to score goals. I see lots of potential.”

Kopitar and Danault aren’t going anywhere and still bring the same types of games they have in the past. That’s never really been the issue for the Kings. The issue has been getting that third matchup line, especially against the better teams, to hopefully compete more at that level.

The Kings don’t have Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. They certainly don’t have both. They have to win differently. They took a swing last season to try and win with three top-six lines instead of two, but the output on the ice did not go according to plan. On top of special-teams struggles, the Kings did not get the wins they needed from their third line. With Byfield moving to center, it’s Round 2 of that approach. The Kings will certainly need others to step up around him, with a hole opening up on the wing, but the potential of the team at center, with Byfield in the middle, is as high as it’s been since the team added Danault as a free agent.

Byfield called the prospect of that group “really exciting”, highlighting the all-around games of his teammates, aspiring to match them in those areas.

“I think Kopi is obviously a great 200-foot player, same with Phil, great 200-foot player, both really good at draws,” Byfield said of his fellow centermen. “Over the years, learning from them, hopefully I can kind of play similar to them, and be comfortable down there.”

As we move throughout camp, Byfield’s continued improvements and comfort level at center is one to watch.

As we’ve spoke with Hiller, his preference is to let these lines ride into the exhibition games at least, to give everyone the proper opportunity to build chemistry and see how the lines work against other teams.

That’ll go doubly important for Byfield and his line, which is together for the first time beyond just summer skates. Ultimately, the Kings have a lot riding on it working out. If his teammates are to be believed, and the progress he’s shown continues to grow and build, there’s a lot of optimism that the faith shown in number 55 is faith well placed.