Player Discussion Alexis Lafreniere

[PuckLuck3043]

I think people had every right to be upset/disappointed with his play until this season. I certainly was.

Where it went too far was the comments like “how on earth did this guy go first overall?” and “he doesn’t do anything particularly well”.

To me, that’s like when babies think you disappear when you put your hands in front of your face. The guy won the CHL MVP award as a f***ing 17 year old. He’s supremely talented. You can tell how talented he is just by the way he handles the puck. People who couldn’t see that need their eyes checked, even if it wasn’t manifesting in points or good play yet.

Disappointed yes, calling him a flat out bust at the age of 21 was dumb.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

No I never watch any Ranger games. I have not been watching Ranger games since the mid 1970s. Why would I watch games lol?

In past seasons there have been games where he looked good but did not produce on the score sheet. Nice to see him looking good as well as producing. The stats that poster mentioned were a step up from his earlier good season. My only concerns are can he do it at a similar level without Bread (when Bread ages). Also his lines defense specifically Laf and Bread.


It is not really that shocking. When guys play well they get the rewards. That could mean additional playing time, fan appreciation, or a better contract. Last season was not a good season for Laf. We can be honest about that while appreciating how well he has played this season.

I agree. It's not that shocking for this board as some have zero patience. The kid was 21 last year.

 

[mas0764]

Thank god someone else said it. Still have a future

Lafreniere
Kakko
Chytil(health)
Cuylle
Othmann
Perreault
Rempe
Edstrom

Fox
Miller
Schneider
Jones

Gonna need an elite 1C in there, maybe another center, and probably some more D help.

 

[Doctyl]

This is the kind of passes he made all the time if you watch his tape before the draft. Finally great to see the 1OA talent starting to show at this level

 

[Profet]

I think people had every right to be upset/disappointed with his play until this season. I certainly was.

Where it went too far was the comments like “how on earth did this guy go first overall?” and “he doesn’t do anything particularly well”.

To me, that’s like when babies think you disappear when you put your hands in front of your face. The guy won the CHL MVP award as a f***ing 17 year old. He’s supremely talented. You can tell how talented he is just by the way he handles the puck. People who couldn’t see that need their eyes checked, even if it wasn’t manifesting in points or good play yet.

To be fair...

Laf looked HORRIBLE as late as this pre-season.

Let's not start some revisionist history where he looked promising up until this season and put everything together finally.

Laf did nothing particularly well in the NHL prior to this season (and even this pre-season).

I was a poster who was very vocal about how awful he looked.

I'm happy to eat crow about his viability as a top line player... But let's not act like he's looked promising prior to this season.

He didn't.

 

[Dijock94]

Gonna need an elite 1C in there, maybe another center, and probably some more D help.

There is always the draft this summer and next and the one after that

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

There is always the draft this summer and next and the one after that

And then there is the reality that they're going to be adding players who are currently playing on other teams.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

To be fair...

Laf looked HORRIBLE as late as this pre-season.

Let's not start some revisionist history where he looked promising up until this season and put everything together finally.

Laf did nothing particularly well in the NHL prior to this season (and even this pre-season).

I was a poster who was very vocal about how awful he looked.

I'm happy to eat crow about his viability as a top line player... But let's not act like he's looked promising prior to this season.

He didn't.

Calling him a bust at 21 was foolish. Period. He didn't look as bad as you want to believe either. He had 40 points last year with no PP time. Not what most were expecting but not worst in NHL bad either.

 

[Profet]

Calling him a bust at 21 was foolish. Period. He didn't look as bad as you want to believe either. He had 40 points last year with no PP time. Not what most were expecting but not worst in NHL bad either.

Hindsight is 20/20.

This past off-season I would not have bet any significant amount of money on Laf being a Ranger this offseason.

He looked bad. Not "bad for a first overall" but Laf routinely looked like just a guy.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

To be fair...

Laf looked HORRIBLE as late as this pre-season.

Let's not start some revisionist history where he looked promising up until this season and put everything together finally.

Laf did nothing particularly well in the NHL prior to this season (and even this pre-season).

I was a poster who was very vocal about how awful he looked.

I'm happy to eat crow about his viability as a top line player... But let's not act like he's looked promising prior to this season.

He didn't.

I disagree. I understand why some were disappointed with the production, but there were posters that said they saw NOTHING promising in his game. I flat out disagree, I think he's always had flashes. He also went on plenty of runs of not showing much as well, but the talent and skill was always there. I think the key to the whole thing is really that he has a good head on his shoulders. He's not a cocky guy, and he was bound to address issues in his game because of that. He's always had crazy skill and I definitely saw it along the way - sometimes it was far between but it was there.

 

[PuckLuck3043]

Hindsight is 20/20.

This past off-season I would not have bet any significant amount of money on Laf being a Ranger this offseason.

He looked bad. Not "bad for a first overall" but Laf routinely looked like just a guy.

It's not hindsight. I defended him when people were shitting on him. Once again 40 ES points for a 21 yo kid is not terrible. He was also never going anywhere last summer. You think this team was going to give up on a 1OA pick at 21?

 

[Crease]

I hated the way Laf looked in the preseason. He looked like he skipped his entire prime and went straight to late stage Derek Stepan. Coming into the season I was much higher on Kakko. Happy to be eating crow.

 

[will1066]

I hated the way Laf looked in the preseason. He looked like he skipped his entire prime and went straight to late stage Derek Stepan. Coming into the season I was much higher on Kakko. Happy to be eating crow.

Don't you feel you're expectations have been totally eclipsed?

 

[Luger]

If things stay as they are, that will be Panarin again.

That would be a terrible idea since he'll be 35. We have $20M clearing off the cap between Panarin and Trouba that summer, with Kreider having 1 season left, so he can be traded because he'll be 35 that year also. That's more than $26m. We can get a couple of really good signings of guys who will be 28-29 years old that year.

 

[bhamill]

That would be a terrible idea since he'll be 35. We have $20M clearing off the cap between Panarin and Trouba that summer, with Kreider having 1 season left, so he can be traded because he'll be 35 that year also. That's more than $26m. We can get a couple of really good signings of guys who will be 28-29 years old that year.

If Panarin at 34 looks close to Panarin at 32 it’s a no brainer to sign him, depending on term and AAV of course. I’m sure he won’t be looking for 8 years at 11.6 mil. If he is he can find someone else. And at that age it can be performance bonus based too.

 

[iamitter]

All it took was playing with one of our forwards who is having one of the best Ranger seasons of all time

 

[Black Tank]

Different styles of play take longer to adjust to the NHL speed, lack of room and physicality. Some players can step right into it and it takes others MUCH longer. This is why I'm looking for the right attitude and then willing to give a player a lot of time to find their game. That's the situation we're in with Laf and Kakko and Schneider. Laf and Schneider have found it and I'm positive Kak will as well.

 

[jay from jersey]

Perreault and Laf together for many years sounds good.

Yes.
Perreault-McDavid-Laf is going to be dominant for quite some time ……

 

[Profet]

Yes.
Perreault-McDavid-Laf is going to be dominant for quite some time ……

Especially since age doesn't matter in Dreamland.

 

[HolyHagelin]

To be fair...

Laf looked HORRIBLE as late as this pre-season.

Let's not start some revisionist history where he looked promising up until this season and put everything together finally.

Laf did nothing particularly well in the NHL prior to this season (and even this pre-season).

I was a poster who was very vocal about how awful he looked.

I'm happy to eat crow about his viability as a top line player... But let's not act like he's looked promising prior to this season.

He didn't.

The bolded is incorrect. He scored goals at 5v5 very well prior to this season.

Hindsight is 20/20.

This past off-season I would not have bet any significant amount of money on Laf being a Ranger this offseason.

He looked bad. Not "bad for a first overall" but Laf routinely looked like just a guy.

There has been no hindsight. I have been telling everyone who will listen about his 5v5 goal scoring for 2 years.

 

[IDvsEGO]

All it took was playing with one of our forwards who is having one of the best Ranger seasons of all time

Or you know, playing with Laf helped Panarin have one of the best ranger seasons of all time.

 

[HolyHagelin]

All it took was playing with one of our forwards who is having one of the best Ranger seasons of all time

Do you think there is no causation from him playing with Laf? Again, Laf already had 1st line 5v5 goal production. Bread hadnt played with a guy like that since Kane.

32 year old hockey players are usually past the “career year” part of their careers. Panarin is absolutely benefitting from the line changes as well.

 

[SA16]

The bolded is incorrect. He scored goals at 5v5 very well prior to this season.


There has been no hindsight. I have been telling everyone who will listen about his 5v5 goal scoring for 2 years.

He scored a lot of goals at 5v5 in his two two years largely on account of very high shooting percentages. That was never going to continue and I certainly wouldn't have called him a good goal scorer in those years. Last year he didn't score that many 5v5 goals. He was 198th in the league among forwards with 500+ mins with 0.66 goals/60. This year he has scored a ton of 5v5 goals because he is actually the guy on the ice making plays and contributing. He's massively increased his shot rate.

 

[HolyHagelin]

He scored a lot of goals at 5v5 in his two two years largely on account of very high shooting percentages. That was never going to continue and I certainly wouldn't have called him a good goal scorer in those years. Last year he didn't score that many 5v5 goals. He was 198th in the league among forwards with 500+ mins with 0.66 goals/60. This year he has scored a ton of 5v5 goals because he is actually the guy on the ice making plays and contributing. He's massively increased his shot rate.

His s% wasnt so high as to think its impossivle for a 1OA. Matthews or Draisaitl shoot 17% and it is just a year. There is no reason to expect lafreniere to have league average shooting talent; his s% should be high. Have you seen what he does with that backhand? I will be surprised if he doesnt hit 15%+ more years than not moving forward.

 

[IDvsEGO]

His s% wasnt so high as to think its impossivle for a 1OA. Matthews or Draisaitl shoot 17% and it is just a year. There is no reason to expect lafreniere to have league average shooting talent; his s% should be high. Have you seen what he does with that backhand? I will be surprised if he doesnt hit 15%+ more years than not moving forward.

He also has no issue playing near the front of the net, those are very high percentage shots.