On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed a recent rumour from Nick Kypreos suggesting that Quinton Byfield could be a trade piece for the Los Angeles Kings if they decide to make a win-now move ahead of the March 7th trade deadline.
From Kypreos’ article:
“Quinton Byfield is a name to watch here for a few reasons. The first is that, if Los Angeles is to make a big move to counter Vegas and Edmonton, they’ll have to give up a significant young piece to a seller. Byfield is exactly that, a 22-year-old and the second overall pick from the 2020 draft.“That has left the Los Angeles organization wondering how high Byfield’s ceiling truly is and if the team would be better off focusing on the here and now by flipping Byfield for a more seasoned roster upgrade.”
This is the first real mention of Byfield being potentially available, and while it’s purely speculative at this point, it sparked an interesting discussion about whether the Vancouver Canucks could — or should — try to acquire him. Both Quads and Harm acknowledge that the chances of Vancouver pulling off a trade for Byfield are slim to none, but as a hypothetical, they explored what it would take.
Harm explained why it would be difficult for the Kings to move Byfield in the first place.
“If you’re the Kings, the only way you’d even consider pulling the trigger on a Byfield deal is if he’s the equivalent of Martin Nečas and you’re finding a Mikko Rantanen, except in LA’s case, they’re probably hunting for a player who isn’t quite a superstar of Rantanen’s level but still has term left. The Kings are a win-now team — they don’t want this magical collection of draft picks and prospects. It’s going to be a star that can help them now. I don’t see how the Canucks can pull that off ahead of the deadline.”
Even though a deadline deal seems unlikely, Harm considered a scenario where Byfield could be more available in the summer.
“Let’s say you get to the offseason, and LA looks at Anze Kopitar and says, ‘He’s going to be 38, how much longer can he be a high-end top-six center?’ Phillip Danault is getting up there in age too. If they decide they need a future first-line center and don’t believe Byfield is going to be that guy, they might start looking elsewhere,” Harm said.
“We know that Pettersson is great buddies with Adrian Kempe, so you can create a scenario in your mind where the Kings poke around on Pettersson in the offseason when they have some cap space to work with. But, and this is the kicker — Rob Blake already made a big swing for Pierre-Luc Dubois, and look how badly that backfired on them. They gave up a lot, and the contract aged poorly.”
“Quinton Byfield’s name even being mentioned in a trade report from Nick Kypreos is interesting to bring up, at the end of the day,” noted Quads
If Byfield becomes and remains a potential trade piece into the summer, Harm believes the Canucks should absolutely be in the mix.
“If his name is still out there in the summer- if the Kings get to a point where they don’t believe he’s going to reach his potential there and want to cash in before his value depreciates — then yes, you should be all over that if you’re the Canucks,” said Harm.
“They desperately need a player with first-line center upside. Byfield is young, he’s got the physical profile with the size, speed, and raw tools to where I could see him putting it together in his mid-20s and being a legit 1C. The Canucks need more game — breaking talent, and while Byfield hasn’t consistently been that type of presence yet, I believe he has the potential to get there.”
While the odds of the Canucks making a move for Byfield remain highly unlikely — especially before the deadline — it’s an intriguing hypothetical that could become more relevant in the offseason if the Kings start re-evaluating their future down the middle.
You can watch the full segment below:
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