Getting to know: Quinton Byfield

If the Red Wings do not come out of the NHL Draft lottery -- whenever that might be -- with the top pick, that doesn't mean all will be lost.

This is considered to be a fairly deep draft and the Wings will certainly be selecting no lower than fourth.

On April 8, NHL Central Scouting released their final rankings, with forward Alexis Lafrenière of the Rimouski Océanic listed first among North American skaters and German forward Tim Stuetzle of Adler Mannheim first among international skaters.

Big center Quinton Byfield of the Sudbury Wolves, listed at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, was ranked second after Lafrenière among North American skaters.

"A player with his size and strength, and I think there's more size and strength to come, but to able to have soft hands and vision and make plays and when players try to eliminate him, he can beat you with power or he can beat you with hands and hockey sense, so it makes him very, very tough to contain and a very attractive prospect obviously," NHL Central Scouting's David Gregory said on a video conference call earlier this month.

Byfield appeared on the conference call along with Lafrenière, Stuetzle and defenseman Jamie Drysdale, the third-ranked North American skater.

"It's definitely difficult times, no one expected this, everyone was expecting to go in the playoffs but it's just important everyone stays safe," Byfield said. "Obviously you have to stay active, I'm still doing my workouts and all that as well. But you definitely have mixed emotions, you're definitely excited for the draft, a little bit disappointed that you can't go there but that's still up in the air. It would really be exciting to have the opportunity to do that."

Asked if he was doing any sort of unique workout that would play well on Tik Tok, Byfield just laughed.

"I don't think I'm doing squats with my dog. I think my dog would freak out if I tried lifting him up," he said. "I'm just downstairs really just hitting the weights and shooting pucks down there, just the usual stuff, going on runs and enjoying the nice weather that we're having the last couple days. I'm just doing the usual stuff, nothing too fancy or crazy like that."

Byfield and the rest of the prospects were asked to reveal something that people might not know about him.

"The bow tie collection's definitely out there. I probably have over 30-40 of them so I try to have some funky ones, switch those out every game," Byfield said. "Something else that people don't know is I'm definitely an athlete and like playing other sports. I think if hockey wasn't my main sport at the time, I think I'd try to maybe pursue basketball or something like that. I always play around with my buddies, we always go to L.A. Fitness or something, that's our gym here and we play basketball there. Always just pick-up games like that, which is a lot of fun. I think I'd be okay at basketball so I think that's what I'd do."

Many experts have compared Byfield to Pittsburgh Penguins star center Evgeni Malkin, who is also 6-foot-4.

"Definitely drawn a couple comparisons out there. I think it'd be Malkin. It's just an honor to be compared to that guy. He's a soon-to-be Hall of Famer," Byfield said. "I definitely watch as much Pittsburgh games as possible just to see what he does on the ice and how he plays. "He's a big, 200-foot center and just the amazing offensive ability he has. Just how he plays is just unbelievable. I definitely watch him quite a bit and try and model my game after him."

Of course, this month Byfield would have loved to be showing off some Malkin-like skills while competing in the playoffs for his team.

The Sudbury Wolves had clinched the top spot in the Ontario Hockey League's Central Division and a playoff berth with a 34-27-1-1 record.

Byfield led his team with 32 goals among 82 points in 45 games, which ranked 14th in the OHL in scoring.

"It was definitely a big year for me," Byfield said. "I think I would describe myself as a big, two-way forward that tries to play a 200-foot game. Definitely more of an offensive upside there. I think the strongest part of my game is definitely my skating for a big guy. I try to use that to my advantage and find my teammates in the offensive zone and set them up."

Along with Lafrenière, Drysdale and Red Wings prospects Joe Veleno and Jared McIsaac, Byfield won the gold medal with Team Canada at the 2020 Ice Hockey World Junior Championship in Czech Republic.

Byfield was the youngest player on Team Canada.

Byfield does not even turn 18 until August 19, which is about the time that hockey players are preparing to head for NHL prospect tournaments and training camps.

But on March 23, the OHL, along with the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Western Hockey League and the Canadian Hockey League, announced the cancellation of the 2020 President Cup Playoffs a week after canceling the rest of the regular-season games.

That means that Byfield and the rest of his draft class will be at a bit of a disadvantage whenever the time comes for camp.

"I think it's definitely going to be a bit difficult but everyone's in the same boat," Byfield said. "Nobody's really been playing hockey for six months. But you've played hockey, obviously everyone's been playing for at least 10 years so you know the game well.

"You just have to go back to that. You definitely know how to play and it'll just take you a little bit, but you'll definitely get comfortable. I'm just trying to stay in shape as much as you can and see if you can gain more muscle and just keep trying to improve with this time off."