It’s not a surprise that Paul Byron is earning rave reviews after his first season working as a player development consultant.
During the Canadiens’ development camp this month, Owen Beck spoke about how much Byron helped him last season while he was playing for the Peterborough Petes and then the Saginaw Spirit in the OHL. After a slow start to the season, Beck finished the year with 34-47-81 totals in 57 games. He was also named MVP of the Memorial Cup after scoring two goals in the championship game as Saginaw beat the London Knights 4-3.
“He took a lot of my video, went through it, watched it a ton,” Beck said about Byron. “He would take clips that he liked, didn’t like, and kind of just break down what he sees, ask me what I see and kind of give me suggestions that translate more to pro. … I think it helped me grow my game a lot.”
The 35-year-old Byron officially retired as a player last September after missing all of the previous season following hip surgery. On the same day Byron announced his retirement, the Canadiens hired him for player development.
Since being named executive vice-president of hockey operations in November 2021, Jeff Gorton has placed a huge emphasis on player development. Nick Bobrov was hired as a co-director of amateur scouting, Vincent Lecavalier as a special adviser to hockey operations, Adam Nicholas as director of hockey development, Scott Pellerin as associate director of hockey development, Marie-Philip Poulin as a player development consultant and Christopher Boucher as director of the advanced statistics analytics department. When Alex Burrows stepped down as an assistant coach this month, he was kept on as another player development consultant and Lauri Korpikoski was also hired as a player development coach in Europe.
The days when Rob Ramage (the director of player development) and Francis Bouillon (a player development coach) were basically alone when it came to player development with the Canadiens are gone.
“I think one of the things I wanted to do and we wanted to do as we moved forward was to bring the organization into more of a modern place,” Gorton said before the start of the 2022-23 season. “I think it’s been pretty well documented to build an analytics department, player development, to have a little more of an emphasis there. Just to maybe get up to speed a little more into modernized hockey a little bit. That was sort of the first goal, sort of speak.”
Hiring Byron was a smart decision.
At only 5-foot-9 and 164 pounds, Byron was able to play 12 seasons in the NHL after being selected by the Buffalo Sabres in the sixth round (179th overall) of the 2007 NHL Draft because of his speed, work ethic and determination. He was also fearless and very well-respected by his teammates.
Another accomplished milestone! Thinking back 12 years ago, when you started your first year pro hockey in Portland, Maine and how far you have come. It was never luck, and always your determination and hard work. We’re so proud of you always! 💙🤍❤️ pic.twitter.com/d2MRFXmOvf
— Sarah Byron (@sarahabyron) February 17, 2022
“I was his teammate just a year ago,” Canadiens centre Jake Evans said last season about Byron. “But even when I was playing with him he was kind of a coach to some of the younger guys — especially a guy like me.”
Last season, Byron had defence prospect Logan Mailloux live with him and his family during training camp.
“I got to live with a guy who’s got over 600 games going into my first year of pro,” Mailloux said. “It was really good to pick his mind and pick his brain a bit. You look at him, you look at his career, he started in the minors and worked his way up.”
Byron also arranged for prospects David Reinbacher and Emil Heineman to live with neighbours of his on the South Shore during training camp.
Ramage, who was the No. 1 overall pick at the 1979 NHL Draft by the Colorado Rockies and was part of the Canadiens’ 1993 Stanley Cup team before retiring as a player the next year, said the fact Byron only recently retired as a player is a big bonus.
Paul Byron has officially announced his retirement pic.twitter.com/nUFT8nWjDY
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) September 20, 2023
“Paul … what a story,” Ramage said. “I mean we picked him up on waivers (from the Calgary Flames before the 2015-16 season) and this guy found a way, had a good career — a good, solid career. He’s very honest with young guys, which is great. He has their respect right off the hop and he’s a forward. Frankie and I think a little bit differently (as former defencemen).
“As (former Canadiens defenceman) Terry Harper told me: ‘Never trust a forward,’” Ramage added with a grin. “We’re trusting Paul. … We put Paul on (Beck) and Owen embraced everything Paul threw at him and his game just took off.”
Beck appreciated the fact Byron wouldn’t “sugar coat” comments about his play.
“He’s going to tell me how it is and at this level of hockey you got to expect that,” Beck said. “You got to be able to take it. It’s not like he’s ripping me to shreds or anything. But he’s not going to hold back if he sees something because it’s only going to make me better in the long run.”
