This is the 2nd top pick in row who comes in to rangers line up and performs under expectations. I'll hold my judgement until David Quinn is gone. DeAngelo being gone might help too if the locker room has been all f***ed up
F Alexis Lafreniere (2020, 1st, NYR) part 3
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cg98
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- Oct 10, 2017
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Bookmarking this. Can't wait to take a dump on this opinion in the next few years.
Wait... Did you just call Laf a borderline bust after... 8 NHL games?
ricky0034
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- Jun 8, 2010
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I wonder how many of the people calling Lafreniere a bust right now were saying the same about Hughes last year
i'd guess quite a few
i'd guess quite a few
The don godfather is such a joke. Read his posts on the Bruins board. Guy still believes in Senyshyn. So Lafreniere is a bust but not Senyshyn. Such a joke. Do yourself a favour and just put him on ignore like I did. He’s absolutely clueless about hockey.
Agent Zub
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- Jan 2, 2015
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or maybe the ones who were calling Hughes a bust were the same ones who predicted Laf to dominate compared to him.
Anyway both great players worthy of #1 status. people who write these players off after 8 games or 1 season are dumbasses
Is this the first year you watch hockey?
Don't wanna know what you thought about Jack Hughes last year, imagine Joe Thornton's first year.
I think calling Laf and Hughes busts was ridiculous. But, it is not like people weren't hyping them up beyond belief.
Zaddy
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- Feb 8, 2013
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I haven't watched the games but definitely seems strange that Kakko struggled last year and Lafreniere struggles this year (at least statistically). Both were guys that had no physical maturity issues unlike a guy like Jack Hughes. They were expected to come in and be good NHLers right away. Obviously still early for Laf and he might very well get it going soon but it seems worrying, not so much from a prospect point of view but from a club standpoint. What are the Rangers doing with these guys? Is it a coaching issue? Lack of talent and experience on the squad to help them out?
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
At the same juncture, do we maybe need to readjust expectations for all these players? Or is it that the 2019 and 2020 drafts happen to be really underwhelming drafts (so far at least)?
Who from the 2019 draft, aside from Hughes, is even a league average NHL'er at this point? No one.
Who from the 2020 draft is a league average NHL'er at this point? No one.
And when you look through these drafts, you find a lot of players with really questionable starts to their post-draft careers. At best, you can say they've been underwhelming and aren't living up to their draft position so far. This also goes beyond Lafreniere and Hughes. It's a lot of these guys from these drafts.
People will say that we shouldn't expect these players to be like McDavid, or even Matthews, Eichel, Dahlin, Laine, but how about being like B. Tkachuk or Svechnikov or Kotkaniemi? These 2019 and 2020 picks aren't even middle of the league NHL'ers right away, let alone very good players or superstars. More should absolutely be expected of them, but I'm unsure with if we've just had two drafts that look extraordinarily weak or if there are a multitude of factors that should make us adjust our expectations for teenagers in their first few post-draft seasons.
Pavel Buchnevich
Drury and Laviolette Must Go
Lafreniere has been better so far than Kakko was last year. He's able to process the pace of the NHL game, and be a functional forward. Kakko's lack of ability to do so last season was a big problem. He wasn't an NHL caliber forward. If you were watching him every game and didn't know who he was, you'd have thought he's a 28 year old year career AHL'er. He looked way out of place with only the very occasional puck handling play that looked better than that of a 28 year old career AHL'er.
With Lafreniere so far, he's able to process the NHL game. He can play in the NHL. The speed of play is not too high for him, and defensively he's not too bad. He's been unfortunate with his point totals. He really should have like 3-4 points. That'll probably correct itself at some point. However, if he was pacing for like 35-45 points over 82 games, that would still be underwhelming.
I think he's been a little too tentative at times. He can fit into an NHL structure and look like he belongs in the league, but he doesn't play as hard as his reputation coming into the league. He's not stealing pucks, forechecking hard, creating turnovers, pressuring the puck, driving to the net, going to the net for rebounds. Its a lot of perimeter offense with fancy plays, and he's simply not good enough yet to be an effective perimeter scorer. He doesn't have the skating, his shot isn't beating goalies, he can process the game at an NHL pace but not faster than others right now, and he's struggling to dangle past NHL'ers like he did in juniors.
I don't think the caliber of players around Lafreniere and Kakko has anything to do with it. The team has started the season slow, but its not an untalented team. Lafreniere and Kakko simply aren't that good right now. Generously, they are the 4th and 5th best wingers on their own team, and there's a big gap between 3rd and 4th, so it's an issue with the players ability level coming into the league. To Kakko's credit, he's been better to start this season. He's playing a lot harder and can process the NHL game. He looks like an effective NHL forward. Right now, I think he's slightly better than Lafreniere, although Lafreniere was better in his rookie season. But Kakko still is not playing up to the expectations of a 2OA.
I think there is some blame to go around towards the team. The coaching is very sub-par. Quinn came in with a reputation as a development coach, and the results are mixed, at best. His work with Kakko so far isn't up to par. He admitted that he simply lost track of Kakko's ice time two games ago in a game where he gave Kakko less than 10 minutes. You can't be losing your feel for the bench in the NHL. And the team is underachieving and has big leadership issues within the team. There's no captain because the team doesn't have strong leaders. That much is evident by two teammates getting into an altercation after the game on Saturday that results in one being waived. It's probably a very toxic atmosphere for teenagers to be put in, but that in itself doesn't make players struggle. McDavid and Eichel were much better in toxic environments as teenagers because they came into the league much better.
Lets look at it this way... The list of players that have struggled in their Draft +1 year is far longer than the list of players that have come into the league and been all-stars right away. The only guys in the last 10 years that have come in and had immediate success are Mcdavid, Eichel, Laine, Matthews.
Peasy
Registered User
Hischier had 52 points, RNH 52 in 62 games, Hall had 42 in 65.
Kaako Kappo
Kaako Kappo
Landeskog, Ekblad, Jeff Skinner, Mackinnon... the list goes on
Doesn't mean anything though.
Asquaredx2
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- Mar 10, 2008
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The don godfather
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Yep I stand by it. I think stutzle would have been a better selection. Let's see if I'm right.
Fatass
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- Apr 17, 2017
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Lafreniere hasn’t looked good so far, but Stutzle has been way worse. Imo both players should be in lower league, so they can develop better.
I think Stutzle has looked better but Ottawa is a damn DISASTER right now and not an NHL team from coaching, goaltending, and defensive structure. They are a lot a lot worse than they were even last year which makes no sense. The useless vets they traded for or added taking up space are the main culprits
So once again, youre basing a player never succeeding off of his first 8 games after not playing hockey for like 11 months?
The Crypto Guy
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- Jun 26, 2017
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SensontheRush
Never said it was Sunshine
Fatass
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- Apr 17, 2017
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You don’t think these young guys shouldn’t be in the AHL? Imo Stutzle and Lafreniere would both be better off (for their development) in the AHL.You haven't watched Stutzle at all.
SensontheRush
Never said it was Sunshine
Eh, I don't know about Lafreniere, but I feel like Stutzle is similar to Hughes; him playing in the NHL last season, though perhaps subpar, is what has allowed to him to have such a dramatic step forward this season.
I wouldn't even say Stutzle has been subpar though. He's physical and is already showing off more skill than the rest of the roster.
Sorry to derail this thread though haha.
LOFIN
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- Sep 16, 2011
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It's not exactly his fault he's being deployed like a 2nd liner in terms of action and responsibility, but less than 4th liners in his team when it comes to icetime.
Less than 9 minutes today, while playing good. Sounds fairly similar to Kakko...
Less than 9 minutes today, while playing good. Sounds fairly similar to Kakko...
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