Quinton Byfield flies through the air to score a Goal of the Year candidate

It's been a relatively slow NHL career start for former 2nd overall pick Quinton Byfield.

The 2nd overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft has struggled through parts of three seasons with the Kings, putting up just 14 goals and 51 points in 121 career NHL games. This season though, the 6'5", 225 pound winger has taken his game to a new level. He's got six goals and 18 points in 22 games to start the season and he saved his absolute best goal for this evening in Montreal against the Montreal Canadiens.

Byfield took the puck wide on the right wing, drove the net hard and ended up going airborne while tucking the puck behind Habs goaltender Samuel Montebeault.

Check it out:

Oh, my! What a beauty!

That's got to be a Goal of the Year candidate if I've ever seen one. 

I've always been intrigued by Byfield's raw physical talent, but I've often wondered if he has the drive or the situational awareness to become a true start at the NHL level. Sure, he dominated the OHL with the Sudbury Wolves, but the pro game is very different from the junior game. How many times have we seen a big, tough winger dominate junior hockey only to run into a brick wall once he gets to the NHL and he has to play against grown men his own size? More times than I can count.

With Byfield turning 21 years old this past summer and putting in a full offseason of training, it looks like the kid is finally starting to live up to his draft pedigree. And if you're a Kings fan, that's got to get to excited for this team's future. The Kings are an underrated Stanley Cup contender in my eyes, but they've relied heavily on the veteran presence of Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty in recent seasons. With players like Byfield, Adrian Kempe, Kevin Fiala, Arthur Kaliyev and Pierre Luc Dubois stepping into bigger roles the past few seasons, the future looks bright in Hollywood.