This year has been one of the most chaotic years in sports history, with all sports putting a pause to their respective seasons in early March due to the Corona Virus. Right before the stoppage, the Kings were one of the hottest teams, led by a unique balance of veteran leadership in Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, and Jonathon Quick as well as savvy rookies, such as Gabe Vilardi, Mikey Anderson, and Cal Peterson, all of whom were just getting their first taste of NHL action. Winning 7 straight games after the trade deadline, the Kings showed life they really have not shown since before being ousted quickly in four games by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018. Fast forward several months and the LA Kings have received the second overall pick in this year’s draft. In a year where Alexis Lafreniere is in a class all his own, LA has the first real decision to make. While many players have floated around the top 5 during the season, none deserve more to be in the discussion for 2nd overall than Quinton Byfield and Tim Stutzle.
Quinton Byfield is the only player who ever really challenge Alexis Lafreniere in the race for #1 this season, coming out of the gate like lighting at the start of the year. With a less than spectacular U20 WJC tourney and an injury-riddled second half of the season, Byfield stock has fallen. However, his toolkit is all there. He's a 6’4 center that has dominated the OHL this season. He has no glaring weakness when it comes to his skill set. Byfield reminds me of Anze Kopitar in-game footage I have seen. Isn't the fastest but moves well for a big player, has nice, soft hands, a good shot, and uses his still growing frame to edge out opposition out of his way, just like Kopitar has done for the last 14 years. For a 17-year-old, to put up 82 points in 45 games is impressive, especially considering that he is almost half a year younger than Stutzle and one of the youngest players in this draft. The potential is all there for him to be a true number one center in the league on a Stanley Cup winning team. The only thing that has a lower Byfield ranking in this draft discussion is 1. Because of his age, there is a greater risk factor with his development, as we see Lafreniere and Stutzle closer to their potential and 2. Both Lafreniere and Stutzle have elite playmaking and creativity. Byfield is a good playmaker but not nearly at the same level. Stutzle especially projects to be an elite force in the NHL in this regard.
Tim Stutzle, on the other hand, is a 5'11 playmaking LW/C from Germany that doesn't have the same physical tool kit as Byfield but has elite skating and hockey IQ. Many scouts compare his style of play and the high end of his potential to Patrick Kane. His north to south skating is quick and his agility is off the charts. His ability to change the passing lanes with just a quick movement allows him to create time and space out of thin air. Stutzle started the year in the DEL, projected to play bottom 6 minutes on Adler Mannheim while the team makes another run for the championship. He started the year with a bang, putting up 15 points in his first 11 professional games, and never looked back. His skating is what allowed him to compete at the DEL level and his IQ is what made him a dominant force in the league. He ended up being a top-line player for Mannheim this year while being a 17yr old prospect. He had a decent U20 WJC with 5 assists in as many games. He might not have scored a goal in the tournament but made several high end plays per game and look just about as well as a 17 yr. old can looking playing in a U20 tournament with the benefit of playing on a powerhouse team.
For most teams, drafting a center with the raw potential that Byfield has is enough to make up one's mind about who to draft rather quickly. The idea of drafting Kopitar 2.0 is extremely tantalizing. The LA Kings are not most teams though, having one of the deepest prospect pools in the league, and by far the deepest at center depth. With Gabe Vilardi, Alex Turcotte, Tyler Madden, Akil Thomas, Rasmus Kupari, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan all extremely skilled players that project to be top 6 players in the NHL, something must give. Odds are that players like Madden, Kupari, Anderson-Dolan, and Thomas all find themselves on the wing or in different organizations as they progress. Vilardi and Turcotte however are the future of the franchise, with the latter being selected at 5th overall last year. Turcotte might have had an injury-prone year on a Wisconsin Badgers team that didn’t perform up to expectations at all, but he still showed flashes of being a dynamite player with the potential to be an elite center that the NHL level. Even if he does not become elite, the combination of Vilardi and Turcotte allows the Kings to have a really solid 1A/1B center situation where both are decent 1st line centers while the other becomes an extremely good 2nd line center. Couple that with Kopitar still being on the team and Kupari, Madden, Thomas, and Anderson-Dolan, that screams depth.
What the Kings are lacking in their prospect pool, however, is dynamic/elite skill. All the above-mentioned players, save Turcotte and Vilardi depending on how you view their potential, do not have the game-breaking skill that stars in today's game do. Even with Kayilev, Anderson, Clague, and Bjornfot and Fagemo, the Kings do not have a true difference-maker to build a team around. Because of this, the Kings should select the best player available in this year’s draft, regardless of position. The Kings have enough depth at every position that they can afford to do so. This pick will shape the future for the Kings for the next 10+ years and become the face of the franchise, much like Kopitar and Doughty are currently. At the end of the day, even if I believe Tim Stutzle will become a better player in the NHL and fits the Kings better, both players are extremely good and if they pick either one, it will be a good pick
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