Both Cole Perfetti and Quinton Byfield have been gettin’ an opportunity in their respective lineups of late, and, as two top prospects from the 2020 draft it will be interesting to see how quick they can impact an NHL lineup. 

Perfetti was selected 10th overall to the Winnipeg Jets, while Byfield was nabbed with the 2nd pick by the Los Angeles Kings.

I’ve seen a little bit more of Perfetti, but have been keeping an eye on Byfield statistically for some time. I was pretty keen to watch him this year, but an injury in training camp delayed the start of his 2nd post-draft year. The interest in Byfield doesn’t come only from his draft status, but from his draft year being his only elite statistical season to this point, when he torched the OHL for 32 goals and 82 points in 45 games. Injuries have a played a part, surely, but almost immediately after the draft, Tim Stutzle had a great rookie campaign for the Senators and already the chatter had begun. If the 2020 draft (which was held in October from covid) was held 8 months later, would Stutzle have gone second? That’s still an interesting question, but adding fuel to the fire is Lucas Raymond, who went 4th in that draft, is having an excellent rookie campaign himself with 32 points in 40 games thus far.

There is still plenty of time for Byfield to make up for lost time from his injuries, or build on his solid but not eye catching 2020-21 AHL season where he scored 20 points in 32 games. But the story of the 2020 draft is becoming rather interesting.