Player Discussion Alexis Lafrenière: Part II

[BobMarleyNYR]

They should both be in Hartford.

 

[CLW]

Anyone that has taken a massive jump in league play can say how big a deal and increase in size and speed makes to their games. I barely got shots off when jumping from HS to college. Over 25 years there have been many NYR coaches and GMs. Do they all take some NYR poison and give it to players? The Oilers had their share of disappointments with high picks but McDavid blossomed. Mathews scored 4 goals in his first game. Did Toronto make that happen? No Mathews was ready. Just like Stepan was ready for the Rangers. The Rangers did not make Laf and Kap not ready. They are 20 years old. Most 20 year old forwards are not excelling. Its not about the team.

It is *also* about the team. Look at Lundell and Raymond, they fit right in with their lines and there is no ambiguity about the style the team is supposed to play, no E-W or N-S argument no buddy buddy system or internal hierarchy or talk about "having to earn it" or vets going on about "playing the right way" or benchings for random reasons. Kakko and Laf had culture shocks, whereas many other prospects did not. I am looking at the room too and the previous coach, at issues that the current HC is trying to sort out that he inherited.

 

[will1066]

It is *also* about the team. Look at Lundell and Raymond, they fit right in with their lines and there is no ambiguity about the style the team is supposed to play, no E-W or N-S argument no buddy buddy system or internal hierarchy or talk about "having to earn it" or vets going on about "playing the right way" or benchings for random reasons. Kakko and Laf had culture shocks, whereas many other prospects did not. I am looking at the room too and the previous coach, at issues that the current HC is trying to sort out that he inherited.

I don't have faith in Gallant sorting it out. The only thing that I think he knows more than Quinn is how to quickly hail a cab with all your belongings on you.

 

[NickyFotiu]

It is *also* about the team. Look at Lundell and Raymond, they fit right in with their lines and there is no ambiguity about the style the team is supposed to play, no E-W or N-S argument no buddy buddy system or internal hierarchy or talk about "having to earn it" or vets going on about "playing the right way" or benchings for random reasons. Kakko and Laf had culture shocks, whereas many other prospects did not. I am looking at the room too and the previous coach, at issues that the current HC is trying to sort out that he inherited.

I do not see it as a team issue unless you think they should have spent time in the AHL instead of the NHL. Both the guys you mentioned are rookies that were not thrown right in to the deep end and expected to swim the year they were drafted. Earning your spot is not a negative. If both those guys continue to play well they will be earning their spots. Krieder was benched. JT Miller was benched. Zooks was benched. They all worked hard to earn their spots. You play the games to win. You have to encourage the right things including that you earn your minutes. Nobody would say just play a rookie goalie no matter how he plays so why a forward?

 

[mike14]

Did Laf play any center in Jnrs?
I'm wondering whether giving him half a dozen games playing in the middle would make him more engaged rather than seemingly just coast along

 

[duhmetreE]

I don't have faith in Gallant sorting it out. The only thing that I think he knows more than Quinn is how to quickly hail a cab with all your belongings on you.

I think the players respect Gallant more. How long will it last? Will he sort it out?

Quinn had them playing very well ( at least in effort ) the first 1.5 seasons. The defense was a mess but we were relentless in the other 2 zones. Covid destroyed the team.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

Did Laf play any center in Jnrs?
I'm wondering whether giving him half a dozen games playing in the middle would make him more engaged rather than seemingly just coast along

Zac Jones played more center the last 5 years than Alexis Lafrenière.

 

[bleedblue94]

Not even 10 mins of ice tonight. He should be sent to Hartford to play 20 a night for a few weeks. He is rotting here...

 

[duhmetreE]

Even if it's the right move, I doubt he gets sent down.

 

[aufheben]

We couldn’t just draft Sidney Crosby and not worry about this bullshit?

 

[LokiDog]

Not even 10 mins of ice tonight. He should be sent to Hartford to play 20 a night for a few weeks. He is rotting here...

Yep, ice time has gone from 15:45 per night at the start to less than 10 for a bit now. Alexis Lafre-nearly an NHL player. Hartford for 10-20 games would likely be a blessing for him.

 

[aufheben]

Christ, I just remembered…before I knew anything about Lafreniere, I joked on here—months, if not a year before we drafted him—that he had the most bust-sounding name ever.

 

[bleedblue94]

Even if it's the right move, I doubt he gets sent down.

Pure stupidity. The only things that stop it are pride and image of the org, but their image is going to take a hit if they railroad two top 2 picks.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

Pure stupidity. The only things that stop it are pride and image of the org, but their image is going to take a hit if they railroad two top 2 picks.

Is he AHL eligible? Isn't there some weird rule about being 21 years of age to be able to?

 

[duhmetreE]

Pure stupidity. The only things that stop it are pride and image of the org, but their image is going to take a hit if they railroad two top 2 picks.

it is pure stupidity and poor management. He should never be in the bottom6.

 

[Machinehead]

You guys remember Erik Christensen right?

He was useless 90% of the time but every week or so he'd have a goal or an assist where you were like "when did we sign Pavel Bure?"

If Lafreniere were doing that, I'd be ok with it. Like, ok, not everyone is great right away, he's 20, but the talent is there.

What bothers me is that he does nothing. Like, at all. This was game 14 and I've noticed him less than 14 times. People say that with Kakko you see flashes. Ok, Kakko has his own issues, but I wish we even got flashes from Lafreniere.

 

[bleedblue94]

it is pure stupidity and poor management. He should never be in the bottom6.

He has been poor at this level. He needs some ahl time. There's no shame in that.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

We couldn’t just draft Sidney Crosby and not worry about this bullshit?

This org would've turned Crosby into a 40 point player

 

[Machinehead]

Christ, I just remembered…before I knew anything about Lafreniere, I joked on here—months, if not a year before we drafted him—that he had the most bust-sounding name ever.

Second most bust-sounding name.

Libor Hajek is clearly #1.

 

[duhmetreE]

We have a lifelong skills coach ( really it's since 2013. ) and we can't complete a basic pass and are average skaters.

We have Ortmeyer, Glass and Hunwick in charge of our 'player development'.

YOU HAVE ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD... WHY!?

 

[LokiDog]

You guys remember Erik Christensen right?

He was useless 90% of the time but every week or so he'd have a goal or an assist where you were like "when did we sign Pavel Bure?"

If Lafreniere were doing that, I'd be ok with it. Like, ok, not everyone is great right away, he's 20, but the talent is there.

What bothers me is that he does nothing. Like, at all. This was game 14 and I've noticed him less than 14 times. People say that with Kakko you see flashes. Ok, Kakko has his own issues, but I wish we even got flashes from Lafreniere.

Eat your heart out, Laf.

 

[DanielBrassard]

It's really sad to watch him, you would think once in a while he'd show that he was a #1 overall pick but there's just nothing there.

 

[Crease]

We have a lifelong skills coach ( really it's since 2013. ) and we can't complete a basic pass and are average skaters.

We have Ortmeyer, Glass and Hunwick in charge of our 'player development'.

YOU HAVE ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD... WHY!?

They should give Kovalev a call. He is coaching in Beijing.

 

[LokiDog]

And Christensen could shoooooot from what I remember.

 

[Machinehead]

Eat your heart out, Laf.

This shot went back in time and killed JFK