Byfield wants to 'be the guy' to fill void for Kings after Kopitar retirement

Quinton Byfield spent the past few seasons with the Los Angeles Kings learning from Anze Kopitar, their longtime No. 1 center and captain who retired in April after the Kings were swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference First Round.

The 24-year-old has been asked to take that spot as best as possible.

"It's going to be a big void for us to fill," Byfield said at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour last month. "It's not just one person, it's going to be the whole team to fill what (Kopitar) did on the ice, leadership off the ice. It's crazy that he won't be there and we're going to miss him for sure."

Sure, but Byfield is the No. 1 guy, right?

"Yeah, there are so many people on the team who are going to step up but for myself, for sure, I want to be the guy," he said. "I have to prove that first, though."

Byfield has two points (one goal, one assist) heading into the Kings' home opener against the Florida Panthers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN+). He is looking to create plenty with his linemates, left wing Artemi Panarin and right wing Adrian Kempe; each had a goal and an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. The three also combined for 14 of 35 shots. Byfield had four of them.

He was also 13-for-20 on face-offs and logged a game-high 22:40 of ice time.

"He takes charge out there," Kempe said of Byfield after the game. "He's a big guy and he can do all the plays and everything, but he has a great shot. It was nice to see he could get on the board as well because I think that's going to bring his confidence up moving forward, shooting the puck and making all the plays as well. I really liked his game."

Ultimately, Kempe said Byfield just needs to "keep doing the things he's doing" in his elevated role.

"Communicate, take charge when he's out there, talk on the bench, talk on the ice. Those are the main things," he said.

"Obviously, we've got to perform when we're out there, but I think he's been doing a real good job on playing offensively, playing defensively, taking charge before face-offs, all that kind of stuff. That's kind of what we're looking for from him as well. Really good camp for him and I think we're all looking forward to his season as well."

Byfield had 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists) in 79 games last season, second on the Kings to Kempe (73 points; 36 goals, 37 assists). He also had two assists in four Stanley Cup Playoff games.

But Byfield, who had an NHL career-high 55 points (20 goals, 35 assists) in 2023-24, wants more.

"Honestly, a lot of it is consistency," he said. "There are too many times I'm going into bad slumps, then there are times I get really hot, so it's just being more consistent over the team without giving up defensive opportunities."

Generating offense has been an issue for Los Angeles, which averaged 2.68 goals per game last season, 29th in the NHL. To that end, Byfield and the Kings should benefit from working with Peter Laviolette, who was hired as coach June 9 and is known to have a more offensive approach.

That's music to Byfield's ears.

"I feel like for us, it's been a lot of just sitting back and obviously as a forward and coming where I was in junior, just being more offensively focused, it's a challenge of me to switch," Byfield said. "You're just sitting back and you're not used to it, so it'll be a lot of fun just being able to be on attack again but still have to have a good balance."

Byfield is also eager to help reverse the Kings' fortunes in the postseason. Since winning the Stanley Cup twice (2012, 2014), each of their playoff appearances has ended in the first round, including the past five seasons. The Avalanche swept the Kings last season and the Edmonton Oilers, led by captain Connor McDavid, eliminated them four straight seasons prior to that.

"We're in control in a lot of games and a lot of the series; it's just little things that kind of, just little lapses that give (momentum) back to them and swung the momentum of the whole series," Byfield said. "Then we got back on our heels. It was just little things that turned big.

"It's disappointing. We're sitting back. Letting the best player in the world (McDavid) come attack you for a seven-game series is probably not going to be the best thing, so there's a lot. I can't just say it's one thing, but those are a few things that we did that we have to learn from that we want to move on from this year and be better at."

If that's going to happen, Byfield is going to have to play a major role, one he's been preparing for and embraces for quite some time.

He believes he's ready.

"It's exciting to play with some of the high-end players on our team," Byfield said. "I mean, more opportunity, a bigger role, so there's a lot to be really excited about."