Player Discussion Alexis Lafreniere

[noncents]

man i hope he just bosses this playoffs. we could really use iy

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

man i hope he just bosses this playoffs. we could really use iy

Definitely. You already know K and Z will do absolutely nothing at 5v5 so if we want a chance he’s going to have to go off.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Definitely. You already know K and Z will do absolutely nothing at 5v5 so if we want a chance he’s going to have to go off.

During our big run in 22, the kid line was our best at 5v5.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Scored at basically a 40 goal pace after the ASB.

He won’t be a PPG player with out PP1 time but perhaps that’s coming.

He should spend this summer doing what ever he was doing+shooting 500 pucks a day.

 

[Riche16]

I thought he was the 3rd star last night. He played a hell of a game.

As with the rest of the team I really wanna see this sustained great play when things tighten up starting this weekend.

I'm happy about the Pres Trophy, but that's not the real prize. Not close.

 

[duhmetreE]

Scored at basically a 40 goal pace after the ASB.

He won’t be a PPG player with out PP1 time but perhaps that’s coming.

He should spend this summer doing what ever he was doing+shooting 500 pucks a day.

we see flashes with his shot but other times his release/release point looks meh.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Scored at basically a 40 goal pace after the ASB.

He won’t be a PPG player with out PP1 time but perhaps that’s coming.

He should spend this summer doing what ever he was doing+shooting 500 pucks a day.

Hot dogs and shooting pucks

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Hot dogs and shooting pucks

shotgunning beers during pick up softball and shooting pucks.

get it right man!

 

[Hunter Gathers]

shotgunning beers during pick up softball and shooting pucks.

get it right man!

That's just hot dogs but with more steps.

 

[mas0764]

Highlight of the season for me (thus far).

For the past few years, despite our success, my concern was that it wasn’t sustainable. Our vets were getting older and our young forwards weren’t getting any better. I found it difficult to watch us get outshot 2:1 on our way to winning a game 2:1 due to a good break from Panarin.

To have us winning, not in spite of, but due to, our young players improving is just that much more satisfying.

Kakko and Chytil have to be next, followed by Perrault and Othmann and another young 1C type to be added eventually.

 

[bleedblue94]

This is revisionist history...
Laf didn't show flashes of anything until this year. That was the detractor's (including me) biggest gripe about him.

Even this preseason it looked like it would be more of the same with him even getting healthy scratched at least once.

It's not, he had flashes far apart. Something that stood out but it was once every 10 games, or random highlight reel things. To say he never showed it is false

 

[Brutananadilewski]

It's not, he had flashes far apart. Something that stood out but it was once every 10 games, or random highlight reel things. To say he never showed it is false

To be fair, his skating and puck carrying was questionable, only coming through against weaker teams.

I mean, everything aligned for him this season.

My 2 cents: I think he's the best puck carrier in the offensive zone on this team.

 

[bleedblue94]

To be fair, his skating and puck carrying was questionable, only coming through against weaker teams.

I mean, everything aligned for him this season.

My 2 cents: I think he's the best puck carrier in the offensive zone on this team.

I agree, and I was as hard on laffy as anyone but I saw it more as laziness, be that in training or on ice effort.

Edge forecasted before the draft that laffy was going to be a player that would need to prove he had the motor. He seems to have taken that step finally.

 

[Harbour Dog]

The Lafreniere takes were some of the worst I've ever seen on this board. There were reasonable questions to be asking about his game, but that's not what was happening on here (or other social media platforms apparently).

And any pushback was met with "Lol, he sucks" and some sarcastic meme. Not a chance am I going to let today's rationalization paint my hindsight of the nonsense that was getting posted here.

 

[Row I Goon]

I personally went from this….

To this….

Via this….

 

[mas0764]

I remember I said I thought he could still be a Kyle Connor level player and was met with ridicule.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Kakko and Chytil have to be next, followed by Perrault and Othmann and another young 1C type to be added eventually.

Chytil is all about just staying healthy. He was supposed to be where trocheck is. That would've been a 50-55 pt season (without pp time)
Kakko (for all I defend him) absolutely needs to get faster. He needs to increase his top end speed and his acceleration. Once he does that he will dominate. He doesn't need to get bigger, he's got a shot, and he knows how to play. He just needs to get faster.
Faster will give him just a little more separation to make the plays I see him trying to make.

With Laf in the top 6 on the right side, it did open up a middle 6 LW spot for Othmann, he can fight cuylle for.
Perrault is the following year, and if Kakko sticks, laf will have to move back to the left to make that work.

But yeah we need at least 1 high end center prospect in our system. I dont see BMB working out.

 

[ColonialsHockey10]

Sorry if I missed this in the thread, but did anyone realize he scored the first and last goals of the regular season for us?

Very symbolic.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Sorry if I missed this in the thread, but did anyone realize he scored the first and last goals of the regular season for us?

Very symbolic.

Hopefully the last goal of the season from him is the game winner in the SCF.

Season ain't over, yet.

 

[jerseyjinx94]

The Lafreniere takes were some of the worst I've ever seen on this board. There were reasonable questions to be asking about his game, but that's not what was happening on here (or other social media platforms apparently).

And any pushback was met with "Lol, he sucks" and some sarcastic meme. Not a chance am I going to let today's rationalization paint my hindsight of the nonsense that was getting posted here.

Seriously. This thread was a joke before the season.

 

[Unpredictable1]

Scores the season opening goal, and season ending goal for the team, during the team's record-setting season, all the while setting career highs.

Keep the story going kid - we need you. LGR!

 

[Grifter3511]

I agree, and I was as hard on laffy as anyone but I saw it more as laziness, be that in training or on ice effort.

Edge forecasted before the draft that laffy was going to be a player that would need to prove he had the motor. He seems to have taken that step finally.

This idea has been posted before, but was it laziness/lack oftraining? Or lack of confidence? Or both? Lack of confidence means you're thinking (and overthinking) more and not playing intuitively. It makes sense that you would look a step behind and not moving the puck well if you're overthinking every step of it.

Like most things in life, it's probably a combination of factors.

 

[bhamill]

This idea has been posted before, but was it laziness/lack oftraining? Or lack of confidence? Or both? Lack of confidence means you're thinking (and overthinking) more and not playing intuitively. It makes sense that you would look a step behind and not moving the puck well if you're overthinking every step of it.

Like most things in life, it's probably a combination of factors.

I never saw it as laziness. And the guy that trained him this off season, Dube, has been doing so for years. It was the same assumption as the "softball and hot dogs" narrative people were going with in preseason this year. Some people couldn't figure out why he was coming along slower than expected, so they labelled him lazy. Others said he just wasnt any good at hockey. Physical/mental maturity and confidence for sure. He put in a lot of hard work every off season and this year it really started paying dividends. Also there are levels of hard work, part of becoming a pro is finding those next levels. So maybe he has found the next level in his hard work, but that's different than saying he was "lazy." Practically NO ONE works as hard as Kreider... does that make everyone else lazy? No. There's a lot of real estate between lazy and Kreider level effort.

 

[noncents]

PDOcast did a deep dive podcast on Laf. i nearly cried. it was such a validation of the support many of us have shown him over the last 4 years.

btw to everyone who said he was dogshit when quinn and gallant absolutely manacled his offensive confidence and production, and insist it was hindsight, you're straight up wrong. some of us saw it and believed.

 

[bleedblue94]

This idea has been posted before, but was it laziness/lack oftraining? Or lack of confidence? Or both? Lack of confidence means you're thinking (and overthinking) more and not playing intuitively. It makes sense that you would look a step behind and not moving the puck well if you're overthinking every step of it.

Like most things in life, it's probably a combination of factors.

If you aren't in shape then you cant do the things you want to do on the ice. That alone will destroy confidence at higher levels of competition. There is no one that can look at laffy this year and even suggest he isn't in better physical condition this year. In the past he was gassed after 20-25secs on most shifts and would noticeable struggle on the ice when given more mins in a game or heavy usage. He would just fall off. He has been a different player physically all year.

Anyone that has played knows that when your body starts to get tired you actually start making mental mistakes long before the physical signs of exhaustion are evident. I dont think as many people remember just how bad laffy was with the puck in the past just making stupid decisions. Suddenly this year he has more stamina, better skating, and now that confidence comes with it and a general elimination of the "stupid hockey" and you can see his expectations now are to be successful in this league.

People use to complain he didnt get more shifts in ot 3v3, yet when he did he would be GASSED after one spurt down the ice. He was prepared physically at a different level this year and he deserves credit for it!