Teammates talk "dominant" Quinton Byfield, who is putting all the pieces together 

How would Drew Doughty assess the recent play of forward Quinton Byfield.

“He’s playing well, scoring goals, does everything on the ice, plays PK, plays well defensively, good in the corner. Very happy for him.”

Pretty high praise from Doughty, who has certainly seen his share of forwards over the years.

A six-game goal streak, which was snapped on Monday in Minnesota, has led to the narrative changing regarding Byfield. Throughout the first few months of the season, Byfield’s production was not where it was the season before, when he broke out with 20 goals and 55 points. It certainly wasn't where an encouraging preseason led many to believe it might be. Don’t think that he wasn’t contributing though.

Byfield had moved back to center entering the season and was growing his game over what amounted to about 150 feet of the ice. It just wasn’t the 150 feet we’re accustomed to seeing younger players play, meaning those who need to learn to commit defensively. For Byfield, he became a matchup center defensively, honing his craft at that end of the ice and on the penalty kill while the points weren’t there. Now they are and the best part of it is, they haven’t come at the expense of the other areas of his game.

How’s that make Doughty feel, to see the number-two overall draft pick in 2020 start to blossom?

“I’m going to say it’s about time,” he said, with a patented Doughty laugh.

Since February 1, when Byfield was reunited on a line with Kevin Fiala in that night’s 4-2 victory over Carolina, his offensive production has been that of a top-tier center. Beginning with a multi-point game against the Hurricanes, Byfield has amassed 17 points (6-11-17) from the 17 games he’s played since the start of February.

Pretty impressive.

"He's been our best player for quite a while now," forward Anze Kopitar said. "I think it's been great. It's really great to see him confident on the ice and doing all the things that he's been doing. I guess we just had to wait just a little bit longer than anticipated, but he's been a force for this team. He's been winning us games."

The first 11 points he collected were assists, including a career-best four in a 5-2 win over Vegas last month, as he played the role of facilitator to linemate Kevin Fiala’s goalscorer.

Ever since, it’s been roles reversed, as Byfield’s production has exclusively come through goals, as he became just the eighth player in franchise history to record a goal streak of six-or-more games.

“He’s been awesome,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “I think last year he took big strides and this year he’s taken another step, especially defensively. He’s been much harder to play against and it’s fun to see him start scoring goals, going on a run like this. Really good for him but really good for us as a group.”

What’s been the secret sauce behind the uptick in production?

He certainly has been more willing to shoot the puck, averaging two shot attempts more, per/60, from February 1 on compared to before. He’s also seeing a much higher percentage of his attempts be scoring chances, up from 50.8 percent in October through January to 60.7 percent in February and March. So, more chances + higher-quality chances usually means more production. Has proven to be the case for Byfield.

His on-ice metrics are off the charts right now, leading the Kings in most categories in those areas since February 1, which helps point towards the uptick in assists. While there is the PDO element to consider, with Byfield currently on the fortuitous side of that metric, almost all of that total has been on the save percentage side of things, not the shooting percentage side. Byfield ranks sixth among Kings forwards in on-ice shooting percentage since February 1, so it’s not as if he’s just the beneficiary of a team-leading total there.

You want to go in depth? Here's a more granular stat. Since February 1, Byfield leads the Kings in controlled offensive-zone entries and he ranks among the league's elite players in gaining the offensive zone with possession, leading to a scoring chance. The Top-5 in that category in that span? Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Jack Eichel, Brayden Point and......Quinton Byfield. To me, that shows a confident player with the puck on his stick, who is transporting the puck effectively and creating offensive opportunities off of it.

All of which to say, the offensive element is thriving right now for Byfield, which is rounding out the strong start he built in other areas.

As the player himself talked about, where his game is at right now started with his focus and commitment to the defensive side of the puck.

That was where he excelled over the first few months of the season, both at 5-on-5 and on the penalty kill. While many viewed his start to the season as disappointing, Hiller maintained it wasn’t, pointing to those other areas of his game in which he was contributing towards team victories.

Byfield’s progression as a penalty killer is a new element to his game and he’s been excellent in that area all season long. Per the NHL Edge website, Byfield’s success in that area can be measured simply. He’s in the 99th percentile for time spent in his own zone on the kill and the 99th percentile for time spent in the offensive zone.

To put it even more simply, he’s been on the ice for 4.53 goals against per/60, the best rate among Kings forwards in PK situations. Of the 76 forwards around the NHL with at least 100 minutes played shorthanded this season, Byfield ranks fourth in that category. Pretty darn good.

The penalty kill is just one element too of Byfield’s game that has complemented the burgeoning offensive game.

Hiller has pointed to a physically engaged Byfield being an effective Byfield. Whether he’s dishing a hit or even receiving one, Hiller has liked how being more involved in the physical play has gotten him into games. Seems to coincide with his uptick in production, too, that his hits given + taken number has jumped by just over two and a half on a per/60 basis since February 1.

His linemate, Kevin Fiala, called Byfield a “grown man” now, pointing to his size and his strength and willingness to use it.

With his size and speed, Byfield certainly is a load to handle in puck battles and his teammates have painted him as a player who is willing and eager to get into those battles and has the physical attributes to win them. Since February 1, the only player in the NHL with more loose-puck recoveries than Byfield is Florida's Aleksander Barkov. Sometimes, these can be subjective stats building to building, game to game, but the totals seem to support the narrative, though, and his teammates have been eager to agree.

Right now, it’s all just a part of the package that Byfield brings to the table.

“A lot of stuff goes under the radar that he does, he wins all the battles, he’s quick to puck races, all that stuff,” defenseman Brandt Clarke said. “Now, to see him bear down on his opportunities too, it’s good to see. He’s been such an asset for us, especially recently, but all year as well. Just to see them go in for him, we’re all really happy for him and we’re grateful to have him.”

What I like about Byfield really finding his groove offensively right now is how he’s built to this point. He started at the bottom, if you will. Not in the sense of he had nothing going for him, but rather he built up the parts of his game that don’t always get the same kind of love as goals and assists do.

With the solid base in place, he’s now adding the offensive elements as well, which has created a more complete player all around and a centerman who the Kings trust in all situations, at both ends of the ice.

“He’s just dominant right now,” forward and linemate Alex Laferriere said. “I have the pleasure to play with him right now and every time we step on the ice, I’m looking for good things to happen coming from him. It’s unbelievable to watch and I’m just so happy for him because he’s an unbelievable guy too. I think just watching how dominant he is on the ice, it’s fun to watch and I know he can continue that.”

With Byfield’s current level of play, if he’s got just about every element of his game clicking, then the next step becomes consistency over a longer stretch. He’s brought it over the last six weeks or so, but going forward into and hopefully through the playoffs, the Kings need that consistency from Byfield in particular to go where they want to go as a group.

Because, when Byfield is on his game, we’re realizing the team we thought we’d see last year, with the same logic. Three centers, all with defined roles in the lineup, all with the ability to be the line carrying the load on a given night. That’s been the key to success, is when multiple lines are going for the Kings. That was what the Kings tried to build last season, but ultimately that plan didn’t work. Perhaps Taylor Swift had this one pegged.

“Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find that what you’re looking for has been here the whole time.”

With Byfield now adopting that role, he’s become the matchup winner, the game-changer the Kings needed through the middle of the ice. With the production now matching the little details and the commitment, we’re seeing the upside of a player with seemingly limitless potential start to be reached. The best part might be that what we’re seeing now doesn’t even feel like the peak. There’s even more in there. But man. What the Kings are getting right now from number 55 is something special.

As they chase down home-ice advantage in Round 1 of the postseason, they’ll need to continue to get it. The final piece of the puzzle is consistency. Starting to feel like perhaps that piece was in the box the whole time.