Vilardi will be moved to the wing before Byfield. The Kings intend to develop Byfield as the 1C of the future. Kopitar only has a few years of 1C capability left in the tank.

Regardless, Byfield and Turcotte are going to play this season in the AHL.

Byfield and Turcotte will likely start in the AHL but they will each likely see minimum 30 NHL games.

I also factored putting Byfield on center but I didn’t because I know he’ll be moved around from 1st to 2nd to 3rd until the Kings find to put him on a line he plays comfortable with. So I agree placing Byfield on center is better option long term wise but for this season and Kopitar and Danualt being there, he’s probably a better fit on the wing for this season.

I don't expect either of them to get more than 10 games in the NHL. Especially Byfield, since the Kings can slide his ELC another year.

The Kings hired the US National Development Team coach for a reason. They're going to let him do his job. The kids are better off playing first line minutes in the AHL where they can realistically compete for a Calder Cup than play bottom six minutes on a bubble team in the NHL.

If there are numerous injuries in the NHL this year, then all bets are off. Short of that, I don't see any waiver exempt players except JAD, Vilardi, Anderson, or Bjornfot getting more than 10 NHL games this season.

I don’t mind that option if that’s what they do. That puts off some pressure off Todd as well. There are many players who can crack the roster and it can get too competitive that players might not want to play in LA.