Quinton Byfield’s Return, Vancouver Sputtering, and Arthur Kaliyev’s Improvement – The Athletic

VANCOUVER, BC – Sometimes there isn’t much of a difference between what we learned about the kings and what we already knew.

In all honesty, they are very inconsistent.

It was reinforced in significant ways on that trip to western Canada on two consecutive nights, in a 5-1 win over Edmonton on Sunday and a 4-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Monday. The Canucks, most recently in the Pacific Division, played their first game under new coach Bruce Boudreau, who arrived in town on Sunday.

Before we get to the ups and downs of the road, 20/20 will first take a look into the future. In this case, the near future.

1. Quinton Byfield told me that he expects to play against the Condors for the Ontario Reign in Bakersfield on Tuesday night. Those plans changed when the game was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols affecting the Condors.

Byfield should now be expected to return against the San Diego Gulls on Friday. His last regular season game with the Kings was on May 7th.

2. Our brief conversation took place on Monday afternoon, exactly two months later to the day, when he broke an ankle in the third third of a preseason game against the Arizona Coyotes. Byfield, the No.