2024 Kings Seasons In Review – Quinton Byfield

From the youngest in terms of experience to the youngest overall, we now look at Quinton Byfield’s breakout season.

Byfield exploded offensively as he buried 20 goals and amassed 55 points throughout the course of his 2023-24 campaign. Byfield has always been the highest-upside player in the Kings system and we saw a ton of that translate not just into his play, as we did in 2022-23, but into his point totals as well. A look at the ups and downs for number 55 below.

Quinton Byfield
LAK Statline –80 games played, 20 goals, 35 assists, +19 rating, 42 penalty minutes
LAK Playoff Statline – 5 games played, 0 goals, 4 assists, +4 rating, 4 penalty minutes
NHL Possession Metrics (Relative To Kings) – CF% – 54.6% (+1.0%), SCF% – 54.5% (+1.6%), HDCF% – 56.9% (+5.3%)

Trending Up – Q did his thing this season.

Career highs in games played (80), goals (20), assists (35), points (55) and plus/minus (+19.). Byfield was one of five Kings to score 20+ goals, one of five Kings with 35+ assists and one of six Kings with 50+ points. Byfield did the bulk of his damage at 5-on-5 and his 37 points in 5-on-5 situations were tied for the second most on the Kings this season. Byfield collected a point on 78.7 percent of the goals he was on the ice for this season. That was a massive uptick from the 51.4 percent he had last season. Byfield’s 0.84 primary assists per/60 led the Kings, as did his 1.4 assists overall. Dude was simply a breakout player offensively, not just by Kings standards by around the NHL. Huge season offensively.

The thing with Byfield’s game too is that the uptick in production never came at the expense of anything defensively. Among Kings regulars, no member of the team was on the ice for fewer goals against on a per/60 basis than Byfield was. In fact, among the 277 players to log at least 1,000 minutes at 5-on-5 this season, Byfield ranked fifth in terms of fewest on-ice goals against. Additionally, while these are team statistics, not just individual, Byfield metrics in terms of on-ice scoring chances and high-danger chances against ranked second among Kings forwards on a per/60 basis. Brought it at both ends of the ice and was an impact player for the Kings in the process.

In the postseason, there were a lot of LA Kings who did not deliver. Byfield was not included in that group. The forward had four points from five games played and was a +4 in the five-game series. At 5-on-5, no player was on the ice for more goals for on a per/60 basis and no player had a better goals for percentage than Byfield. One from a group that wasn’t nearly big enough of players who had a strong postseason.

Trending Down – The thing with Byfield’s season is that it would’ve, could’ve, should’ve been even better. Once Jim Hiller was named as the team’s Head Coach midseason, he upped Byfield’s usage extensively. In February, that led to 11 points (4-7-11) from 12 games played. As February ended, Byfield had 18 goals. He scored just two more the rest of the season, with one coming in Game 82. Included in that stretch was a 19-game drought without a goal and a nine-game stretch without any points at all. Byfield said in his end-of-season interview that he was fighting off an illness during that stretch, so there was an explanation. But man. What could’ve been, had he either been healthy the entire season or found a way to manage things more effectively.

I also think there is still another level offensively when it comes to shooting the puck. Byfield’s individual high-danger chances per/60 ranked second behind only Trevor Moore, but he was a middle-of-the-pack player in terms of scoring chances and shots on goal. We saw that when watching him play. A lot of goals came via fantastic individual efforts or by using his frame to get to the front of the net. Those are great things. Would love to see him add more in terms of shooting the puck whether it be off the rush or in certain situations in the offensive zone. Just another area a developing player will likely continue to improve.

2024-25 Outlook– Quinton Byfield’s contract is the largest decision the Kings need to make this summer.

It’s not a decision as to whether or not the Kings will want to re-sign Byfield. They obviously do. It’s simply a matter of what the contract looks like. There are pros and cons for both player and team to signing a bridge contract or a long-term deal. With the Kings tight on space, a shorter term deal might allow the team to add another piece in the interim, at the risk of Byfield earning more on his next deal than he would have if he signed long-term now. A longer-term deal mitigates that risk, but takes up more cap space next season. From Byfield’s perspective, it’s about the guaranteed money by signing longer term versus a bet on himself as a developing player with a rising salary cap. It’s one the Kings are already working on, as their top priority this offseason. It’ll get done and wherever it lands sets the tone for the eventual roster construction.