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The Los Angeles Kings have made a splash in the offseason with the franchise signing Quinton Byfield to a five-year extension deal, as reported on the team's official website.
“The LA Kings have signed forward Quinton Byfield to a five-year contract extension worth an average annual value (AAV) of $6,250,000 through the 2028-29 season,” the Kings confirmed.
Byfield, who was selected by the Kings second overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, had a mediocre start to his career in The Show, but he's turned things around significantly in the 2023-24 season.
After racking up just a total of eight goals and 25 assists (33 points) in his first three seasons in the league (99 games), Byfield lit the lamp 20 times and had 35 assists for 55 points in the last season for a Kings squad that was just 16th overall in the league with 3.10 goals scored per contest.
During the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs where the Kings got knocked out of Cup contention by Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, Byfield came up with zero goals but recorded four assists and was a plus-4 through five games.
The 21-year-old Byfield was going to be a restricted free agent before the Kings inked him to an extension that will keep him in Tinseltown for at least until the end of the 2028-29 season, barring a trade, a release, or anything in between.
The breakdown of Byfield's newest deal will get him $775,000 with a $5.5 million signing bonus for the 2024-25 campaign, per PuckPedia.
In Year 2 of the contract, the Kings will pay him $4 million to go with a $3 million signing bonus. Year 3 will see Byfield pocket $4 million in salary and $1.5 million in signing bonus. His Year 4 and Year 5 won't have signing bonuses but he'll cash in $6.25 million and $6.22 million, respectively. It is also worth noting that the final year of Byfield's new deal with the Kings carries a 10-team list for a modified no-trade clause.
Working mostly alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, Byfield showed positive results in terms of team puck possession. He posted a career-high overall 59.4 CF% and a 54.6 CF% during even-strength situations. His individual 105.3 PDO last season was also the best in his NHL career thus far.
The jury could still be out on Byfield, but the Kings clearly have trust in him to further better his performance in the 2023-24 NHL season. Kopitar isn't getting any younger, so Byfield could be the guy who could one day be the face of LA's attack.
That's a challenge now for Byfield, who is the sixth Los Angeles forward who will earn at least $4 million in the coming season. Kevin Fiala is due $7.875 million, while Kopitar will earn $7 million. Phillip Danault and Adrian Kempe both carry $5.5 million cap hits for the next campaign, while Trevor Moore will cost the Kings $4.2 million.
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The internet reacts to Quinton Byfield's extension with the Kings
“Quinton Byfield, signed 5x$6.25M by LA, is a young two-way playmaking centre who took a big leap this season in a middle six role. Generally pass-first but shoots a lot off the rush. Still room for improvement but this should almost certainly end up a strong bargain,” posted JFreshHockey.
“Quinton Byfield is on the path to stardom. A $6.25M deal for the next five years has potential to be ludicrously good value,” said @domluszczyszyn.
“That’s my QB 1!!” another social media user @rogfeelgood added.
“IM SO HYPED OMG” commenter @KINGS_Tucker noted.
“This is almost the perfect deal imo. yeah, maybe he costs us 10+ in five years, but the cap increase will more than make-up for that. Terrific,” a fan called @Wrennardx furthred.
