The Los Angeles Kings lost one of their top forwards during Tuesday night’s win over the Washington Capitals. Center Quinton Byfield exited the contest after just four shifts and 2:44 in ice time. Head coach Peter Laviolette told Dooley that the team plans to evaluate Byfield’s injury more at Wednesday’s practice.

It was not clear when he was injured, though it may connect back to a fall at practice that left Byfield “a little tight” according to team reporter Zach Dooley. Specifically, Byfield had fallen awkwardly into the boards after being tangled up with a teammate. He was briefly checked on by trainers before finishing practice with the team per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.

Byfield has been off to a slow start in the 2026-27 season. He has just two points through six healthy games this season. Both were scored in Los Angeles’ October 3rd matchup against the San Jose Sharks. Outside of that appearance, Laviolette has struggled to find the scoring spark that led Byfield to 24 goals and 49 points in 79 games last season. That performance was, itself, a downtick for the 24 year old – who scored 55 and 54 points across the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons respectively.

The Kings have continued to deploy Byfield as the second-line center and a fixture of the power-play. Los Angeles shifted lines after Byfield’s exit on Tuesday, moving Erik Haula to second-line center and promoting Andre Lee to the third-line. Should those changes stick into Thursday’s matchup against the New York Islanders, the Kings will likely promote extra forward Taylor Ward into the vacant, fourth-line wing role.

L.A. could also recall Lane Pederson, Cole Guttman, or Martin Chromiak – who respectively lead the AHL’s Ontario Reign in scoring. Pederson and Guttman have made NHL appearances before, while Chromiak has yet to make his NHL debut. Any one of the trio could provide additional depth as Los Angeles looks for a spark in the absence of one of their top players.