Montreal Canadiens: Quinton Byfield Provides Template For Juraj Slafkovsky
The Montreal Canadiens somewhat controversially (at least on Twitter) selected Juraj Slafkovsky with the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
The huge Slovakian winger had looked great at the Olympics and World Championships in his draft year, but it did not translate to immediate NHL success. Slafkovsky made the NHL team after his first training camp and scored just four goals and ten points in 39 games.
As a first year NHLer, he looked overmatched in every imaginable way. He was often out of position, getting rocked when he did touch the puck, and would go long stretches without ever really getting involved in the play.
It led to some concern among Habs fans that maybe the player they drafted is not NHL material. Of course, it is early to draw any conclusions about hockey players when they are teenagers, but ten points in 39 games and getting knocked over by everyone was not a good look from the first overall pick in his rookie season.
Slafkovsky has looked better this season, and has two goals and six points in 21 games so far. It is not the points that make him look better, but the fact he is winning more battles for pucks, making great passes to teammates, carrying the puck more frequently and generally just using his size to his advantage to maintain puck possession.
Those are all good signs, and we saw another reminder in the Habs most recent game that sometimes huge players just take some time to hit their stride. In case you don’t recall, the Canadiens were completely overmatched by a Kings team that looks like one of the best teams in the league this season and is a real Stanley Cup contender.
On that team’s top line is 21 year old Quinton Byfield. He was drafted second overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, but was not able to find immediate NHL success. The 6’5″ forward did turn pro right after being drafted but had zero points in six NHL games while putting up 20 points in 32 AHL games.
His second season saw him score just five goals and ten points in 40 games with the Kings. That almost exactly matches Slafkovsky’s production from his rookie season. He also had six points in 11 AHL games that season which is not terrific production.
Byfield’s third pro season saw him score 15 points in 16 AHL games, which is quite encouraging. He also had just three goals and 22 points in 53 NHL games, which is not encouraging at all. After three pro seasons, Byfield had scored just eight goals and 33 points in 99 games.
That would be enough to cause full blown panic in Montreal. However, Byfield is showing he will be worth the wait for the Kings. After three years of low production, the hulking winger is on the team’s first line and has scored four goals and 16 points in 19 games already this season.
He does not get sheltered minutes at all while playing the wing on Anze Kopitar’s line, and he is producing at a point per game pace while being nearly impossible for opponent’s to handle thanks to his combination of size, speed and skill.
Sometimes players just need some time and experience before they can round out their game at the NHL level. Byfield is just another example of a big player that needed time to learn the pro game before he could be successful.
Slafkovsky will almost surely be next, but it might take a couple of years before he can become a truly impactful player.
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