Quoting: NHLfan10506
If LAK ever move Byfield while on ELC, it would be for darn good established player. Farrell is great and pick is nice. But I think this falls short.
Heard the same about Dach even after he was traded
Its how this site works they inflate value in the face of real life context and examples
Reality is with drafts as deep as they are these days 50 contracts is alot.
Devoting the time it will take for Byfield comes down to the same decision LAK made 15 years or so ago.
When faced between investing in Boyle(Byfield) the big lengthy player or the better all around Center in Kopitar(Turcotte or Kupari)
They chose the right path cutting Boyle loose when Lucky Luc Robatille took over as President of LAK leading them to their first stanley cup not long after.
Robatille doesnt make a habit of spending a long time to develop big guys he's more likely to ship them out for people who can help Kopitar today.
Its been his history for almost 15 years and why he wasnt first during LAK rebuild because he knows what it takes and just like 2012 with the cupboards fully stocked he'll go out trading former top picks to land his Carter's , Gaborik's and Richards who cost them Schenn, Simmons, Johnson ,1st round pick and 2nd round pick to do it. (2/3 players were former top 5 OA picks by LAK)
Just saying you want more because , you want more as all fans ignoring the business side do.
Based on the history of the business side in context i made a fair evaluation for a player way behind his peers.
If he was a late 1st round pick maybe it would be less concerning but he's the former 2nd OA pick who just regressed as he was sent down after his rookie season for failing to earn a NHL job fulltime.
IMO Dach >Byfield
Yet i still gave him more of a return then Byfield got.
Dach has a versitility and smoothness to him that Byfield doesnt.
By the time the big man learns enough to hit Dach's level there he'll be 23 or 24.
MTL has the time as Slafkovsky is having a lot of the same problems and whomever's on his line will be subject to these struggles regardless.
For MTL investing in those 2 even if it cost's us games would be worth it as we're not competing.
LAK on the other hand is as they try their hardest to get Kopitar one more cup before he leaves or retire's from the NHL.