Rangers Overtly Killing Lafreniere’s Career

[SteveCangialosi123]

Yeah...who the f*** would have room for a 3rd liner who puts up 40 points and is still pop4-6 years away from being fully developed?

Laf will reach his peak in 2050

 

[Windy River]

It wouldn’t make sense to trade him with his value at the lowest it likely ever will be

I think the perception of him being at his ‘lowest value ever’ with nothing but upside may help the trade situation for NYR, which they are banking on.

 

[983 others]

the rangers made him be mid at best at everything on an nhl level?

how they manage to do that

or i guess another minute of pp time per game will magically change his entire skillset and physical abilities

 

[Silky Johnson]

That's very easy for them to say now.

Say what you want but Ottawa has a proven track record for saying f*** it to the consensus and doing what they want at the draft. For good (Brady) and for bad (Boucher).

 

[Play]

Laf will reach his peak in 2050

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@LemonSauceD even you didn’t take it that far

 

[Killem Dafoe]

Laf will reach his peak in 2050

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I will never unsee this.

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

I’m sorry to all his fans out there but from what I’ve seen is he either doesn’t have the ambition to HUNKER down or is with the wrong team.

You see the 1ov talents there, but something is wrong and to me it seems
It’s between the ears for whatever reason.

 

[Hisch13r]

I’m sorry to all his fans out there but from what I’ve seen is he either doesn’t have the ambition to HUNKER down or is with the wrong team.

You see the 1ov talents there, but something is wrong and to me it seems
It’s between the ears for whatever reason.

We’ve got different eyes then because I definitely don’t see the 1OA talent there.

 

[Grifter3511]

We’ve got different eyes then because I definitely don’t see the 1OA talent there.

At best, I've seen low end 1st round. At worst, 5th/6th rounder. Guess it averages out to a high 3rd rounder?

As a Rangers fan, it's obviously disappointing. But im at the point where I can stop saying, 'what could he be?' and instead say, 'what do we have?'

I would take a 21 year old on my 3rd line putting up close to 40 pts in a season and hope there's a little more over the next few years. But again, it doesn't mean I'm not disappointed.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Outside of a massive breakout, "value the lowest it'll ever be" is likely not accurate. That's just not how things work in the cap world given contract status. Right now, his value is still likely decently high due to the magic "P" word. If the potential isn't realized very quickly here, then he's just a something or other player that'll be not far from free agency in a few years. Is he poised for a major breakout or a future Max Domi (currently 28 years old and about to wear his 7th NHL jersey)? If he's on a steal of a contract, great, but he's currently unsigned and thus indications are that given his former number 1 status, he doesn't want to sign a contract for peanuts.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Ah yes, the curious case of Lafreniere.

Honestly If he was drafted by the Canucks he would be a 120 point player right now. Allvin you know what to do

 

[PizzaAndPucks]

He still never was given any crazy amount of icetime or top power play time. The Rangers were a decent team that year and jumped to the #1 pick from almost being a playoff team that year. He never really went to a bottom feeder where he was going to be gifted a ton of icetime. It's a bit alarming he hasn't forced his way up the lineup and was pretty bad for the Rangers in the playoffs so its understandable why he is getting alot of criticism. I think this really is a combo of Lafreniere not being as good as many thought he would be and an issue with the Rangers coaching staff. I think when it's all said and done he will be a good player though. In my opinion he will suprise some of his critics on here and atleast be a 60 to 75 point player. Yeah it's what you want from a 1st overall pick but it's still roughly a 30 goal + 40 assist guy. That's still a productive player that pretty much every team would take.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

This is the ultimate piling on thread. People who don’t understand the hierarchy within the team or follow it at all will blame the 21 year old forward for having a bad playoffs. He actually had a very good end to the regular season, but apparently that doesn’t matter. They’ll give a free pass to a veteran with the second highest cap hit in the league playing as bad or worse because that’s a less convenient storyline. Panarin is the fun and smiley guy that everyone loves, except fans of the team.

The majority of us recognize Lafreniere isn’t yet as good as expected. We would’ve loved him to be that. We’d probably be a better team, if he was. He needs to figure out how he can unlock a higher level. That much is clear. He’s also made progress every year and is well on his way to being a very good NHL’er. The team has basically given him nothing and he’s slowly and steadily making his way in the league. Not what any of us hoped for, but it’s certainly not all on him.

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

We’ve got different eyes then because I definitely don’t see the 1OA talent there.

As minute as they are, yes he has them, but, obviously, they haven’t grown much at all since junior.

 

[bigdog16]

At best, I've seen low end 1st round. At worst, 5th/6th rounder. Guess it averages out to a high 3rd rounder?

As a Rangers fan, it's obviously disappointing. But im at the point where I can stop saying, 'what could he be?' and instead say, 'what do we have?'

I would take a 21 year old on my 3rd line putting up close to 40 pts in a season and hope there's a little more over the next few years. But again, it doesn't mean I'm not disappointed.

Lol there isn’t a 3rd rounder, or even a 2nd rounder for that matter, from the 2020 draft that I would even consider taking over Laf. Thats an outrageous statement

The entire 3rd round combined has a total of 5 NHL points.

 

[hawksrule]

Lol there isn’t a 3rd rounder, or even a 2nd rounder for that matter, from the 2020 draft that I would even consider taking over Laf. Thats an outrageous statement

The entire 3rd round combined has a total of 5 NHL points.

Your damning with faint praise appears unintentional, but truly underscores what a colossal disappointment he is.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

As minute as they are, yes he has them, but, obviously, they haven’t grown much at all since junior.

They can't be minute if he's the first overall pick, that's the whole point of this thread. 40 points 3 years in wasn't the expectation from anyone and looking like complete dogshit in a playoff series wasn't it either.

 

[bigdog16]

Your damning with faint praise appears unintentional, but truly underscores what a colossal disappointment he is.

I never said he wasn't a disappointment. But to go and say he is a 3rd rounder is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Only about 50% of 3rd rounders ever play an NHL game and Laf has 91 points in 216 games. He's a bad 1st overall pick but he surely is not a 3rd rounder.

 

[AlexGretzchenvid]

They can't be minute if he's the first overall pick, that's the whole point of this thread. 40 points 3 years in wasn't the expectation from anyone and looking like complete dogshit in a playoff series wasn't it either.

Having talents elite enough in junior to go 1ov but yet them not translating is still having minute 1ov talents. There was no doubt among the community that laf was 1ov, but for whatever reason those elite skills haven’t translated to 1st line minutes or abilities for the most part. Whether he’s in his head or not built for a 1st line career in thr NHal.

 

[Peat]

I would absolutely take Alexander Nikishkin from the 2020 3rd round over Lafreniere.

Which doesn't make Lafreniere a 3rd round talent. Realistically everyone who makes and stays in the show is a first rounder in a redraft.

 

[Crease]

What made Laf so successful in juniors? I watch his QMJHL career highlights and he doesn't jump off the screen. It doesn't look as if the Rangers told him to park his skills to the side and focus on defense.

 

[Profet]

What made Laf so successful in juniors? I watch his QMJHL career highlights and he doesn't jump off the screen. It doesn't look as if the Rangers told him to park his skills to the side and focus on defense.

Being 2-3 years more physically developed then the opposition.

That's literally it.

 

[Mandar]

This is the ultimate piling on thread. People who don’t understand the hierarchy within the team or follow it at all will blame the 21 year old forward for having a bad playoffs. He actually had a very good end to the regular season, but apparently that doesn’t matter. They’ll give a free pass to a veteran with the second highest cap hit in the league playing as bad or worse because that’s a less convenient storyline. Panarin is the fun and smiley guy that everyone loves, except fans of the team.

The majority of us recognize Lafreniere isn’t yet as good as expected. We would’ve loved him to be that. We’d probably be a better team, if he was. He needs to figure out how he can unlock a higher level. That much is clear. He’s also made progress every year and is well on his way to being a very good NHL’er. The team has basically given him nothing and he’s slowly and steadily making his way in the league. Not what any of us hoped for, but it’s certainly not all on him.

The "whataboutism" is strong here.

Only one person can change the narrative....and thats Laf himself. All the other bullshit is just that.....bullshit. And he has had opportunities to change the narrative.....some just dont.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The "whataboutism" is strong here.

Only one person can change the narrative....and thats Laf himself. All the other bullshit is just that.....bullshit. And he has had opportunities to change the narrative.....some just dont.

He actually hasn't had opportunities to change the narrative. Neither has Kakko.

Giving him like 3 games in a spot, and then removing him because he didn't score 8 points in those 3 games isn't an opportunity. That's using him as a prop. You do it to say you gave him an opportunity when realistically it wasn't a true opportunity. There was almost nothing he could've done to change the mind of the coach. The coach was also sacked, and now we have a new coach. We'll see how things go.

I don't blame Quinn as much as some did. Those guys were first and second year. Yeah, you could've given them the Hughes rookie year treatment and lived with bad results for long-term gain, but the team actually had good players in their spots, and they were fringe NHL'ers, at best, as basically all guys just drafted are (except like the occasional McDavid, Matthews, Eichel, maybe Bedard). What Gallant has done is pretty much unacceptable. He put nobodies in front of them, and every chance he could've to give them a true crack at a permanent top 6 role or PP1 role, they never got the benefit of the doubt with him. He basically forced Drury two years in a row to upgrade on the spots they should've got, and made them into the stupid "kid line" because he refused to use them where they should've been and Drury didn't want coach's pet 3rd/4th liners in the top six. The kid line has gotta go too. It was Gallant's stupid invention to make them all permanent third liners. Don't want to ever see it again.

 

[Mandar]

He actually hasn't had opportunities to change the narrative. Neither has Kakko.

Giving him like 3 games in a spot, and then removing him because he didn't score 8 points in those 3 games isn't an opportunity. That's using him as a prop. You do it to say you gave him an opportunity when realistically it wasn't a true opportunity. There was almost nothing he could've done to change the mind of the coach. The coach was also sacked, and now we have a new coach. We'll see how things go.

I don't blame Quinn as much as some did. Those guys were first and second year. Yeah, you could've given them the Hughes rookie year treatment and lived with bad results for long-term gain, but the team actually had good players in their spots, and they were fringe NHL'ers, at best, as basically all guys just drafted are (except like the occasional McDavid, Matthews, Eichel, maybe Bedard). What Gallant has done is pretty much unacceptable. He put nobodies in front of them, and every chance he could've to give them a true crack at a permanent top 6 role or PP1 role, they never got the benefit of the doubt with him. He basically forced Drury two years in a row to upgrade on the spots they should've got, and made them into the stupid "kid line" because he refused to use them where they should've been and Drury didn't want coach's pet 3rd/4th liners in the top six. The kid line has gotta go too. It was Gallant's stupid invention to make them all permanent third liners. Don't want to ever see it again.

more bullshit. And it has nothing to do with points....he's invisible on the ice at times....shies away from contact at times....fly's by the net as opposed to going to the net.....and just isnt noticeable the majority of the time. He is at the point now in his career where he needs to show he can make a difference.

Stop with the comparisons to other players and bitching about coaches. The whining about that shows nothing. This is on the player.....for the past three years, and for the future.