Alexis Lafreniere Or Jack Hughes?

[Pavel Buchnevich]

What has Lafreniere done to earn those minutes?

Even when he wasn't producing, Hughes was be creating a ton of chances and doing a lot of positive things. The same can be said of Kakko this year.

But Lafreniere rarely does anything worth mentioning, besides getting easily separated from the puck and scoring into wide open nets. I do like his positioning around the net, but aside from that it's hard to think of a single thing he does well, and it's hard to see a real path for him to becoming a 1st line winger.

What did Hughes do to earn those minutes initially either?

The answer is that he didn’t need to do anything. Teams usually realize that the first overall pick shouldn’t have his role taken by irrelevant grinders.

I know you dislike Lafreniere, but clearly you should at least agree with that principle.

 

[Zach716]

What did Hughes do to earn those minutes initially either?

The answer is that he didn’t need to do anything. Teams usually realize that the first overall pick shouldn’t have his role taken by irrelevant grinders.

I know you dislike Lafreniere, but clearly you should at least agree with that principle.

I wouldn’t call Kreider an irrelevant grinder he’s nearly ppg and leads the team in goals. On ES for Laf to get any more time he’d need to supplant Panarin or Kreider and he hasn’t really made that choice difficult for the coach to ignore but it certainly doesn’t help him that NY is loaded on that left side.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

What did Hughes do to earn those minutes initially either?

The answer is that he didn’t need to do anything. Teams usually realize that the first overall pick shouldn’t have his role taken by irrelevant grinders.

I know you dislike Lafreniere, but clearly you should at least agree with that principle.

Lafreniere was given those minutes at the start of his career, but he eventually lost them.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I wouldn’t call Kreider an irrelevant grinder he’s nearly ppg and leads the team in goals. On ES for Laf to get any more time he’d need to supplant Panarin or Kreider and he hasn’t really made that choice difficult for the coach to ignore but it certainly doesn’t help him that NY is loaded on that left side.

I’m not referring to Kreider. Dryden Hunt has played with Panarin for most of this season and Colin Blackwell did so for most of last season.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Lafreniere was given those minutes at the start of his career, but he eventually lost them.

You are right. Thanks for the reminder. Two bad coaches have quick triggers with demoting 19-20 year old to promote grinders because of some first/second season inconsistency.

Lafreniere has absolutely been a victim of bad coaching and you’d be arguing this if Hughes started out with this usage, as you should be. Hughes has benefited from his usage, even if the early results might’ve given him a lack of excuses.

 

[Machinehead]

Why is he playing 3rd line minutes?

If Hughes was on the rangers right now would he get more than 13 minutes a game? Just curious of your thoughts?

I mean, probably not. The Rangers are pretty married to the idea of Panarin-Strome-grinder being a line. Quinn did it and then Gallant stopped doing it for like two games before he went back to it. It works. So Hughes would have to beat out Zibanejad for minutes. Good luck. And like, yeah, I know how good Hughes has been this year but "should he" and "would he" are very different things with young players getting minutes over vets, especially when vets have big contracts. It seems like an easy decision to just ship out Strome in that case but Hughes isn't having the season he's having if he starts behind Strome. Plus, the Rangers have shown no interest at all in breaking Panarin-Strome. It is what it is.

Similarly, Lafreniere has to beat out Kredier, because Lafreniere at his ceiling was never going to be Panarin. We experimented with moving either he or Kreider to the right side but we're finding that neither of those top two lines work without a puck retriever on the right side. Kreider can play that role but Lafreneire-Zibanejad-Kreider just wasn't that good in practice and it was the only permutation that made any sense.

The reality is, the Rangers got that pick (with a 37-28-5 record) when their top six and the gameplan for their top six was pretty set.

You could certainly make the argument that Lafreniere hasn't earned more minutes but you could also make the argument he wasn't getting more minutes anyway.

There are certainly legitimate criticisms to be made as well. While Kakko always seems to end up in the "did everything but score" category, he does show a lot of positives and has established himself as a very good compliment to some of the top guys. You could say that Lafreniere hasn't done that and I would like to see more in the minutes he does get. That being said, Lafreniere is a different player, and always thrived as the focal point of his team's offense. I'm not sure he's ever going to get that opportunity with the Rangers.

 

[Ignite111]

I mean, probably not. The Rangers are pretty married to the idea of Panarin-Strome-grinder being a line. Quinn did it and then Gallant stopped doing it for like two games before he went back to it. It works. So Hughes would have to beat out Zibanejad for minutes. Good luck. And like, yeah, I know how good Hughes has been this year but "should he" and "would he" are very different things with young players getting minutes over vets, especially when vets have big contracts. It seems like an easy decision to just ship out Strome in that case but Hughes isn't having the season he's having if he starts behind Strome. Plus, the Rangers have shown no interest at all in breaking Panarin-Strome. It is what it is.

Similarly, Lafreniere has to beat out Kredier, because Lafreniere at his ceiling was never going to be Panarin. We experimented with moving either he or Kreider to the right side but we're finding that neither of those top two lines work without a puck retriever on the right side. Kreider can play that role but Lafreneire-Zibanejad-Kreider just wasn't that good in practice and it was the only permutation that made any sense.

The reality is, the Rangers got that pick (with a 37-28-5 record) when their top six and the gameplan for their top six was pretty set.

You could certainly make the argument that Lafreniere hasn't earned more minutes but you could also make the argument he wasn't getting more minutes anyway.

There are certainly legitimate criticisms to be made as well. While Kakko always seems to end up in the "did everything but score" category, he does show a lot of positives and has established himself as a very good compliment to some of the top guys. You could say that Lafreniere hasn't done that and I would like to see more in the minutes he does get. That being said, Lafreniere is a different player, and always thrived as the focal point of his team's offense. I'm not sure he's ever going to get that opportunity with the Rangers.

The reason Stome is centering the second line is because he is your best option. That is why the rangers continue to play him there. If you have Hughes on the team I find it very hard to believe they would pick Strome over Hughes to center the 2nd line with good PP minutes. Also, on your third line most would rather have a mature player (Strome) who could plays good defensively while often going against a teams top line.

If Hughes was the #2 center on the rangers and taking on good PP minutes (which he should be) he would be a point per game or higher player.

 

[Machinehead]

The reason Stome is centering the second line is because he is your best option. That is why the rangers continue to play him there. If you have Hughes on the team I find it very hard to believe they would pick Strome over Hughes to center the 2nd line with good PP minutes. Also, on your third line most would rather have a mature player who could plays good defensively while often going against a teams top line.

If Hughes was the #2 center on the rangers and taking on good PP minutes (which he should be) he would be a point per page or higher player.

Panarin (who makes a lot of f***ing money) basically picks his linemates, but sure, you would know better.

I'm not saying Hughes wouldn't have an easier path into the top six than Lafreniere does (they play different positions so moot point), but the point is that the Rangers were a vastly better team than most picking 1st overall and their ability to distribute ice time has reflected that.

 

[BKarchitect]

I voted Laf back in the beginning of this poll. Not because I was sour on Hughes but because I was that high on Laf.

Yeah…I’m just gonna take the “L” on this one. One can kinda temper reactions based on situations or some deep layer of statistical analysis but bottom line is I have eyeballs.

 

[Ignite111]

Panarin (who makes a lot of f***ing money) basically picks his linemates, but sure, you would know better.

I'm not saying Hughes wouldn't have an easier path into the top six than Lafreniere does (they play different positions so moot point), but the point is that the Rangers were a vastly better team than most picking 1st overall and their ability to distribute ice time has reflected that.

Panarin picks his line mates from players on HIS TEAM. Once again STROME IS THE BEST OPTION. THATS WHY HE TAKES HIM. If Hughes was on the team there is a better chance then not, Hughes plays on second line with him. But then again you know his thoughts on who he would rather play with Strome or Another player not in his team.

 

[Machinehead]

Panarin picks his line mates from players on HIS TEAM. Once again STROME IS THE BEST OPTION. THATS WHY HE TAKES HIM. If Hughes was on the team there is a better chance then not, Hughes plays on second line with him. But then again you know his thoughts on who he would rather play with Strome or Another player not in his team.

If it's simply a matter of choosing the "best option" then why has Panarin never been on a line with Zibanejad since they've been on the Rangers?

You're pissing into the wind. It's a known fact that the Rangers like Strome and Panarin and so does Panarin.

If Victor Hedman magically appeared at the morning skate one day, the Rangers wouldn't break up Lindgren-Fox because that's not how any of this works.

And like I said before, you're not really making a point. They play different positions. If Hughes were a LW then yes, he'd be stuck behind Panarin and Kreider at the moment.

 

[Favin]

Sorry, not buying the he hasn’t earned minutes stuff. Maybe he’s not doing great in a small role, but most players with his pedigree don’t need to do that. Hughes is an example of that. Handed the role because he was a 1OA, and I don’t disagree with it. Rangers may be slightly less situated for that, but there’s never any excuse for the 1OA to not at all times have a PP role. And this season, Gallant is simply doing a bad job of developing the younger players. He’s a veteran coach that loves his mediocre veterans. That was one thing Vegas fans warned us about. The Rangers are incredibly top heavy and would seriously benefit from adding some depth. The answer to that is not less than 13 minutes for Lafreniere.

Generally, where is it easier for a young player to produce.

(a) 1st line center on team without any elite forwards, with additional responsibilities defensively, in possession, on face-offs, in transition, on special teams, on both sides of ice, while facing top defensive pairs.

(b) 3rd line winger on team with a few elite forwards, with few responsibilities outside of getting to net and scoring, often on bottom-pair defensive units.

Its never as simple as this, but to me, the former is a steeper mountain to climb.

 

[Ignite111]

If it's simply a matter of choosing the "best option" then why has Panarin never been on a line with Zibanejad since they've been on the Rangers?

You're pissing into the wind. It's a known fact that the Rangers like Strome and Panarin and so does Panarin.

If Victor Hedman magically appeared at the morning skate one day, the Rangers wouldn't break up Lindgren-Fox because that's not how any of this works.

And like I said before, you're not really making a point. They play different positions. If Hughes were a LW then yes, he'd be stuck behind Panarin and Kreider at the moment.

Ok so Hedman won’t play top d pairing and Hughes wouldn’t play second line center on the Rangers. What about if the Rangers got McDavid. Would he make the second line center? You know since PANARIN makes a ton of money and only wants to play with Strome? Get a clue man. It’s like your on another planet. Panarin has 4 centers to pick from right? Zib or Strome then Chytil is mediocre, howden is gone and I don’t even know who the 4th line center is anymore. So yes he’s really picking between 2 players lol. Has better chemistry with Strome. Wow that’s awesome.

If he had other options who were younger, faster, more talented is there a small chance he would like playing with them? Then again you know more about this.

Also, pretty sure Kreider could go to right wing and he did it already for Laf to start the year. Laf did nothing so they stuck him on the third line. This was a main point on why saying Laf is on the third line because he was stuck behind Kreider and Panarin was a wasted excuse.

You are slow so I will end here with no more responses.

 

[Favin]

You can still change your vote?

Lafreniere 200 votes (62.7%) and Hughes 119 votes (37.3%) atm.

Two years ago, Lafreniere was winning this match-up
Lafreniere 96, Hughes 4

On Saturday, it stood at
Lafreniere 63, Hughes 37 (see above)

Since Saturday
Lafreniere 8, Hughes 92

That is some trendline. Wisdom of crowds, I guess.

 

[lawrence]

I went with laf, i think he needs to find his mojo and he will get things going.

 

[Rydev]

Ahhh what a funny one to look back on

 

[Rangerfan4life90]

Ahhh what a funny one to look back on

Their careers are nowhere written in stone, lol. That said, I do think Hughes will be the better player, but it doesn't mean Laf won't be good himself.

 

[Dominance]

Hopefully Lafreniere can take a big step forward in terms of consistent production next year, as Hughes did in his third season. A big part of that will be getting the powerplay time.

 

[Lays]

Lafreniere still.

 

[Clam Jensen]

Lafreniere still.

Very masochistic take.