Ranking the top 31 prospects in the 2020 NHL Draft: 3. Quinton Byfield

Shot

Byfield doesn’t have the most blistering shot in the draft, but is deadly accurate when he uses it, especially when he is in stride on the rush.

Byfield’s 0.71 goals per game rate trails only Yegor Sokolov (0.88),Jack Quinn (0.84), Seth Jarvis (0.73) and Pavel Gogolev (0.72) out of draft eligibles in the CHL, with only Quinn and Jarvis in their first year of eligibility.

Scoring at the rate Byfield does is impressive for a center, not differing to his wingers at often times to be a playmaker, but instead taking charge and creating his own chances.

In the play below the future top-three selection dances a Peterborough defender then takes the middle of the ice and snipes it over the hapless goaltender.

The big pivot holds a quick release, when the puck gets to his stick in tight quarters he has a fast release with good accuracy and power.

He can get the puck off his stick in a heartbeat and makes it nearly impossible for the opposing goalie to react in time.

Playmaking

While not one of the aspects Byfield is renowned as having, he does quite well at distributing the puck to his teammates, and does particularly well using his long reach to do so.

He really does a nice job of working around the goal line and getting passes through defenders for scoring chances. Also in being such a threat off of the rush, especially on odd man rushes, he can regularly find the open guy.

Here, Byfield leads a rush up the ice and has the patience to stop, read the ice, and hit the late man for the goal.

Byfield also possesses a “curl pass” that he uses when he is beating defenders wide, he can reach out wide where the defender can’t disrupt the pass and play it to his teammate usually for a high quality scoring chance.

Beating the Ottawa 67’s defenceman wide, Byfield then shields the puck and uses his long reach to throw it out front for the goal.

Ottawa Senators