Quinton Byfield had high expectations entering the season for the Los Angeles Kings and it took him almost half the season to finally reach those. The Kings' former first round pick was coming off a 20 goal season and moving back to center the the thought was this was the season that everything would finally come together.
What hurt Quinton Byfield's grade
In short, it was the first half of the season as he had only 11 goals and 12 assists through the first 49 games of the season. Early in the season, Jim Hiller would move Byfield around a bit, which included having him play left wing on the line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe. That is where he played last year and maybe getting him back in a familiar spot could help give him a spark.
What helped Quinton Byfield's grade
The final 30 or so regular season games is what drastically turned his season around because it was almost like a switch went off for Quinton Byfield. In February, he would have 11 assists in eight games and lead the entire NHL in that category.
He continued that strong play into March and April with 20 points in 24 games and the scoring really picked up with 12 goals during that stretch.
One thing that doesn't necessarily appear in the box score but was consistent almost all season was his ability as a defensive center. He would be asked to line up against some of the top forward lines for that night's opponent and did a reasonably good job keeping them in check.
Grade for Los Angeles Kings forward Quinton Byfield: A-
The lasting image from this season for Quinton Byfield might be the failed clear attempt at the end of Game 4 that would allow the Oilers to tie it up in the final minute. However, there was a lot of good things that Byfield did this season and expectations once again should be very high for him.
The question will be if he can avoid the slow start and play like he did at the end of this regular season, right from the start of next season.