Player Discussion Alexis Lafreniere

[bhamill]

Can we keep the two separate? We should stop talking about Kakko with regards to Laf's breakout. Kakko is 9 months older and has a full extra season under him and isn't showing anything like what Laf has shown so far.

Look, Kakko is going to be a solid player, but he's never, ever going to be close to what anyone expected. And I think it's unfair to keep saying these things about the guy. Let him develop (or not) on his own. Let's not put unreasonable expectations on him at this point. I do not see Kakko breaking out in the same way that Laf did. I do expect him to get better, but he's going to be a 2nd/3rd liner going forward. And that's not a bad thing.

I don't think anyone thinks they are the same... just that we can learn a lesson from Laf and apply it to another young forward still finding his way who has shown some excellent play at times.

Keep it up, Laf!

Still wild to me that there are people that believe his skating just magically improved over the offseason, and that’s why he’s performing better.

You mean between the pre season and the regular season....

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

You mean between the pre season and the regular season....

Hahaha yes, you’re right. Just crazy.

People will do anything to absolve the organization.

 

[DanielBrassard]

Really happy with how his season has turned out, though there are still some aspects of his game that annoy me lol. I think there’s another level he needs to get to, to solidify himself as a truly core piece but he’s been so much better than I expected.

 

[SA16]

He most certainly should not be put on PP1 before they give him a contract extension.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

He most certainly should not be put on PP1 before they give him a contract extension.

Even after he wont be on PP1, lets be honest lol

 

[IDvsEGO]

The question is, is the powerplay still as good as it is with him on it?

Before people go after me with pitchforks, it's a legitimate question.

Our powerplay has four legitimate world-class powerplay performers on it, and Trocheck who is excellent.

Trocheck has the worst hands on that group.
I think you could split Panarin and Fox and still have two top 10 powerplay units.

 

[LaffyTaffy13]

Othmann is gonna be an interesting one. He's already a bit of a polarizing prospect. So many fans see point production and know he's got a nasty/physical streak so they dream of Matt Tkachuk..

I'm not sure his skating and play/awareness away from the puck is at a pro level yet, and I'm not convinced he's a top 6 player. He has a pro shot and some good offensive instincts that will play on a PP. V. Olofsson with some bite?

I agree. I see more ryan lomberg than matthew tkachuk in him

 

[Riche16]

Best odds on winning it all. Bring it on!

You know the last team to win the Pres Trophy AND The Cup?

It's only happened 8 times.

DO NOT WANT

 

[GAGLine]

You know the last team to win the Pres Trophy AND The Cup?

It's only happened 8 times.

DO NOT WANT

37 teams have won the President's Trophy. 8 of those teams have won the cup.

That's better than 1 out of 5. Considering only 1 of 16 teams wins the cup in any given year, those are very good odds. The idea that the President's Trophy is some kind of curse isn't supported by the numbers.

 

[Riche16]

37 teams have won the President's Trophy. 8 of those teams have won the cup.

That's better than 1 out of 5. Considering only 1 of 16 teams wins the cup in any given year, those are very good odds. The idea that the President's Trophy is some kind of curse isn't supported by the numbers.

To each their own

I maintain I don't want it.

Not because of a curse, but due to the fact that they shouldn't be going balls to the wall for that trophy & because the playing style of reg season doesn't necessarily translate to the post season.

This team will need to significantly tighten up defensively & nut up physically.

But I digress.

 

[ArPanet]

If he doesn't get pp1 time before he's ufa eligible will he walk when he is?

 

[Levitate]

To each their own

I maintain I don't want it.

Not because of a curse, but due to the fact that they shouldn't be going balls to the wall for that trophy & because the playing style of reg season doesn't necessarily translate to the post season.

This team will need to significantly tighten up defensively & nut up physically.

But I digress.

I don't really subscribe to the idea that you should slack off down the stretch to rest up as I worry it runs the risk of hitting the playoffs slowly because everyone hasn't played serious games in a bit. I'd rather they keep up the intensity as much as they can so they're sharp

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

Valiquette didn't even say that...he didn't say it like he knew anything about Lafreniere's training habits or golf habits, he was just saying "maybe Laf needs to really focus this summer on the things he needs to do to be effect in the NHL"

At this point I am hoping he can just continue improving even more, and one of these days he truly does need to get #1 PP time somehow

The Valiquette quote was so clearly the most general, benign comment ever made. People took it and ran with it because nothing gets NYR fans erect more than blaming young players for poor work ethic, attitude, etc

 

[Kaapo Hollweg]

37 teams have won the President's Trophy. 8 of those teams have won the cup.

That's better than 1 out of 5. Considering only 1 of 16 teams wins the cup in any given year, those are very good odds. The idea that the President's Trophy is some kind of curse isn't supported by the numbers.

The idea that the President's Trophy is some kind of curse is supported by fundamental misiunderstanding of statistics.

 

[2Leetch_94]

Fun fact:

With his 2 goals tonight, Alexis Lafreniere has 69 career goals to go with his 69 career assists.

nice

 

[gabevh3]

To each their own

I maintain I don't want it.

Not because of a curse, but due to the fact that they shouldn't be going balls to the wall for that trophy & because the playing style of reg season doesn't necessarily translate to the post season.

This team will need to significantly tighten up defensively & nut up physically.

But I digress.

Are you the hockey rodent? He used to say i digress often lol

To compare...slafkovsky is doing good in his first full season.. for some reason it's combining my posts .. they really screwed up this website in many ways.

 

[ElLeetch]

Are you the hockey rodent?

how the f*** did i forget that guy existed for the last 10 years??? i used to visit his page every day.

 

[jay from jersey]

how the f*** did i forget that guy existed for the last 10 years??? i used to visit his page every day.

He was like Prucha s surrogate Father. He would defend him at all costs….. haha what a blast from the past

 

[QJL]

If Lafreniere takes another step, there is no way the Rangers can hold him back from overtaking Zibanejad or Trocheck on PP1. Fox, Panarin, and Kreider are all top 10 PP players in the league and will not be removed from that unit in the next few years. The other two aren’t staples right now.

Here are a few star players Lafreniere has scored more goals than at even strength this year:

McDavid
Draisaitl
Robertson
Stutzle
MTkachuk
Hints

 

[UnSandvich]

Laf is also T-4th in the league in points with the net empty (Rangers net empty, not other teams)

 

[Synergy27]

The Valiquette quote was so clearly the most general, benign comment ever made. People took it and ran with it because nothing gets NYR fans erect more than blaming young players for poor work ethic, attitude, etc

I mean. Laf looked really, really bad in preseason as well. Let’s not forget that the mounting bad vibes were not unwarranted in September.

The kid has overcome it. That’s awesome. Praise Allah.

 

[bhamill]

I mean. Laf looked really, really bad in preseason as well. Let’s not forget that the mounting bad vibes were not unwarranted in September.

The kid has overcome it. That’s awesome. Praise Allah.

Yup. I think the point though is that it wasn't a summer of working on his skating that turned it around, especially since people were screaming for his head in pre season... it was confidence. Getting the confidence of the coach boosted HIS confidence. It makes you do everything faster, no hesitation. The coaching staff worked to instill confidence in him and let him settle in at RW on a line with Panarin, not yanking him off of it for a mistake or a bad shift or even a bad game. IMO it is the biggest and most logical factor.
I am SURE he did work very hard on his skating (and his entire game) in EVERY off season, including the last one, but he needed that confidence.

 

[NickyFotiu]

He's worked his way up to 119th in the league in 5v5 pts/60 amongst forwards with 500+ minutes. Almost at first line production.

I thought it might be higher than 119 playing with Bread and Vince. Laf has taken a major step this season. The key for him is can he build on it and get to a more elite level next season or the season after that. Id like to see you post him at a top 75 level next season

 

[IDvsEGO]

I thought it might be higher than 119 playing with Bread and Vince. Laf has taken a major step this season. The key for him is can he build on it and get to a more elite level next season or the season after that. Id like to see you post him at a top 75 level next season

I’m curious where he is in terms of p/60 at 5v5.

 

[Synergy27]

He's worked his way up to 119th in the league in 5v5 pts/60 amongst forwards with 500+ minutes. Almost at first line production.

To put a little perspective on this as well, this data is very sensitive to just a few points here or there. I think most would agree that Laf has been “robbed” of a bunch of goals/points this year.

If he had five more 5 on 5 points, he’d be in the top 75 forwards in P/60. That’s better than Matthew Tkachuk and in Barkov/Bedard range. Ten more points puts him in the top 30.

Yes. Other players have been robbed as well so this doesn’t mean much in a vacuum but just wanted to give some context to how sensitive this data is to small changes.

I’m curious where he is in terms of p/60 at 5v5.

Panarin is #7. Trocheck is #92 using these filters.