The thing is that neither are really in positions to succeed. See my post above on Kakko. He's being ruined with Panarin and Strome. Lafreniere I'm starting to get the impression has that "too cool for school" mentality that thinks he's hot shit and knows it all already, when in reality he still has a shit ton to learn. He has the talent, but God, he looks awful out there for someone that was lauded as having a really high hockey IQ leading up to his draft. What's wrong here?
That's exactly it. The coaching staff really needs to evaluate where these players are going to develop and succeed. In my opinion, winning games is useless for us right now if it's at the expense of developing the young players we'll need to step up for the real window.
For Kakko, it's been pretty clear the place he'll develop is not with Strome and Panarin. He can't be a passenger, and he needs to be called on to take the initiative.
I still don't get why Lafreniere was demoted. Laf - Chytil - Blais was a good line for us.
I get the idea of wanting Laf to round out his game, but send him to Hartford to do that for a few weeks--not the 4th line. Give him all-situations minutes and give him the experience of what it means to be "the guy" in professional hockey.