Player Discussion Alexis Lafrenière: Part III

[Scott r]

People need to realize that he's blocked by two studs, not an ideal situation for a 1OA pick. But, then again, we were never ever supposed to get this kid. Also, I notice Canucks fans on Twitter, the worst place to be by the way for reasonable discussion, want and believe Laffy will be in a Miller deal. Also, they are calling him a bust. I truly don't get this. How long did it take the Sedin's to hit their stride? If only social media existed then. Yea, if only Vancouver cut bait with both at 20!

He was supposed to be amazing....many of the top players have done it no later then year 2. Exceptions to the rule happen can happen...I strongly doubt it will in my view. He hasn't developed and progressed enough obviously

 

[Hire Sather]

People talk about lack of ice time as hindering his development.

But changing his position would not?

 

[bleedblue94]

He was supposed to be amazing....many of the top players have done it no later then year 2. Exceptions to the rule happen can happen...I strongly doubt it will in my view. He hasn't developed and progressed enough obviously

Next year is the year that there needs to be a noticeable bump. Not like finish product 80point season, but something where you see a bump in his play and he starts to standout in some capacity. Right now there are times you cant tell the difference in effectiveness between he and a fringe player like gauthier. He needs to start distinguishing himself.

 

[Anthony5967]

He was supposed to be amazing....many of the top players have done it no later then year 2. Exceptions to the rule happen can happen...I strongly doubt it will in my view. He hasn't developed and progressed enough obviously

"He was supposed to be great." According to whom? Social media? Scouts? Steve Kournianos may have been one of if not the only guy to say except a reasonable adjustment period. None of these know-it-all scouts accounted for the Rangers getting him and for him to be blocked on the depth chart by Panarin and Kreider, two of the top-10 LWs in hockey right now, with one being a top-5 player in hockey, and the other on pace for nearly 60 goals. He hasn't developed quickly because he hasn't had the ice time, linemates, or PP time to support that lol. I think next year he needs to be given more of a defined role. You can't just slap him on a 3L with grinders and expect him to wake up. Make the third line a scoring line or play him on the LW in the top-6 and tell Kreider to spend all offseason working on himself playing the off side, getting comfortable with it. Something has to give.

 

[TheDirtyH]

The development of forwards is just bad luck. I don't know why we have to try and assign a reason to it.

Bad luck is the reason you've assigned..

 

[IDvsEGO]

He was supposed to be amazing....many of the top players have done it no later then year 2. Exceptions to the rule happen can happen...I strongly doubt it will in my view. He hasn't developed and progressed enough obviously

He was also supposed to go to a team that had major flaws and Holes in their top 6 and pp1.
He’s blocked from the top 6 right now and pp1.
The more ice time kids like this get, the quicker their development in the nhl.
The more you restrict their ice time the longer it takes. It’s why teams that get a 1oa throw them out even though it leads to short term pain.

 

[tomobson]

With Kakko out they should definitely give him a game or two on the RW of Mika/Kreider. I can understand not wanting to play him with Panarin and Strome but Mika/Kreider are responsible enough for Laf to at least get a couple of games at RW in.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

The development of forwards is just bad luck. I don't know why we have to try and assign a reason to it. It's been going on for years. So what? Coaches have changed. Management has changed. Scouts have changed. You can come up for a reason for anything if you try hard enough to make a story around something. Sure, several of them are more recent where things may have been more constant but given 32 teams in the league you would expect some of them to have poor results with their prospects and you would expect some of them to have great results. Most will fall in the middle.

Does Lafreniere have the best role in the league? No. But other players have produced in it. He's the only forward with 110+ 5v4 mins since last year with 0 points. The next two are Gagner/Johnsson with 2 points. He's not the only player to get limited minutes on PP2 after PP1 comes off the ice. We make it sound like it's impossible to produce in a 3rd line role. There are 116 forwards under 12 mins 5v5 TOI this year (with 300 total mins played). 11 of them are over 2 pts/60. 25 are over 1.7. It's not impossible to score at a good rate with lesser linemates

Or maybe we can wait until a player is 25 before we decide it hasn't worked.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

People talk about lack of ice time as hindering his development.

But changing his position would not?

Kreider needs to be the one that moves, he's a vet, has his long term contract and has played well on the right side in limited minutes.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

With Kakko out they should definitely give him a game or two on the RW of Mika/Kreider. I can understand not wanting to play him with Panarin and Strome but Mika/Kreider are responsible enough for Laf to at least get a couple of games at RW in.

But what would we do with Hunt and Goodrow then?

 

[Hire Sather]

Kreider needs to be the one that moves, he's a vet, has his long term contract and has played well on the right side in limited minutes.

Yeah lets move Kreider who's having the best season of his career

 

[Greg02]

Yeah lets move Kreider who's having the best season of his career

I totally get it, but in fairness Kreider basically plays front net more than left wing.

 

[SteadyEddie]

I remember when he was drafted and they asked the question, "who do you model your game after?" His answer was Nathan MacKinnon. The major difference is, MacKinnon has speed. Laffy will never be a MacKinnon.

 

[mas0764]

I totally get it, but in fairness Kreider basically plays front net more than left wing.

No, let's have a temper tantrum over moving Kreider to the right side or a different line, because he's our favorite and we have a poster of him on the wall instead of using reason.

 

[Hire Sather]

No, let's have a temper tantrum over moving Kreider to the right side or a different line, because he's our favorite and we have a poster of him on the wall instead of using reason.

I don't care about any of that, just don't see a reason to mess with our best combo of Kreider on the left of Z

 

[mas0764]

I don't care about any of that, just don't see a reason to mess with our best combo of Kreider on the left of Z

The reason is that Lafreniere needs to play higher up in the lineup, and as a kid who is still learning as well as a prized asset who is still growing, he should take priority over a ten year veteran who can probably handle more diverse assignments, setting aside the fact that no matter what wing you put him on he's gonna be parked in front of the net 90% of the time.

The push back on moving Kreider anywhere but the left side of Zibanejad is illogical fan worship.

 

[BobMarleyNYR]

Brendl, Lundmark, Goneau

Cherepanov, Boogaard, Lyashenko...

In a world of pure imagination. Wish you were here... get high--oh, it's smileworthy AF indeed.

 

[CLW]

The reason is that Lafreniere needs to play higher up in the lineup, and as a kid who is still learning as well as a prized asset who is still growing, he should take priority over a ten year veteran who can probably handle more diverse assignments, setting aside the fact that no matter what wing you put him on he's gonna be parked in front of the net 90% of the time.

The push back on moving Kreider anywhere but the left side of Zibanejad is illogical fan worship.

They already tried Laf-Zib-Kreider throughout the training camp + pre-season games then several games going into the season. It flopped badly. They tried Laf for one game at RW but he hated it in pre-season. Imo his main "problem" is that he doesn't find a clear "role" on a team that is really wanting all their players to play a clearly defined game. He looks best playing with Strome, but that is where Panarin is already.

I 100% agree that Laf needs more minutes, I just don't see how to solve it. Can you really bump Kreider down to the 3rd line considering he is playing at a historical pace for the Rangers right now? We know Laf-Zib-Kreider doesn't work.

The situation is as Edge lined it out, fans will have to accept that it will be a bumpy ride for the kids for a while because of how the current situation for the Rangers shapes up. Gallant has stressed this over and over, winning right now is priority #1 and the players (kids) have adapted to that. Blame the Owner, blame the GM but that's where we are.

I see some in media are trying to whip the kids into "performing" and "picking up the slack" but that is just not the reality of the situation. The kids exist in a context, rather than an abstract statistical universe.

 

[duhmetreE]

People talk about lack of ice time as hindering his development.

But changing his position would not?

We're asking him to play on his off-wing. Not become a baseball player

 

[duhmetreE]

He's best suited IMO at Center or RW.

He could easily cut to the middle on his forehand or take it down the wall with his backhand. It creates a lot more space for him and will make him harder to defend/read.

A lot of top players, with similar skillsets, play on their off-wing for a reason.

 

[IDvsEGO]

We're asking him to play on his off-wing. Not become a baseball player

listen to the panarin postgame on sat. He basically explained why he doesnt like playing his off wing.

 

[duhmetreE]

listen to the panarin postgame on sat. He basically explained why he doesnt like playing his off wing.

? he plays on his off-wing.

 

[SA16]

They already tried Laf-Zib-Kreider throughout the training camp + pre-season games then several games going into the season. It flopped badly. They tried Laf for one game at RW but he hated it in pre-season. Imo his main "problem" is that he doesn't find a clear "role" on a team that is really wanting all their players to play a clearly defined game. He looks best playing with Strome, but that is where Panarin is already.

I 100% agree that Laf needs more minutes, I just don't see how to solve it. Can you really bump Kreider down to the 3rd line considering he is playing at a historical pace for the Rangers right now? We know Laf-Zib-Kreider doesn't work.

The situation is as Edge lined it out, fans will have to accept that it will be a bumpy ride for the kids for a while because of how the current situation for the Rangers shapes up. Gallant has stressed this over and over, winning right now is priority #1 and the players (kids) have adapted to that. Blame the Owner, blame the GM but that's where we are.

I see some in media are trying to whip the kids into "performing" and "picking up the slack" but that is just not the reality of the situation. The kids exist in a context, rather than an abstract statistical universe.

Kreider's historical pace is basically all on the PP. His 5v5 scoring is fine but it hasn't been amazing or anything.

 

[Chaels Arms]

People talk about lack of ice time as hindering his development.

But changing his position would not?

I'm sure just playing him 12 minutes a night until a top 6 LW spot opens up in the year 2026 is much better for him.

 

[IDvsEGO]

? he plays on his off-wing.

When he played with CK on sat he played on his off wing. He mentioned that he ended up overlapping with Kreider alot because his natural instinct is to move into specific spots. That its hard to get out of those instincts.
While laf is younger, he's likely been playing the exact same position for 15 years or so, my guess is thats likely the same reason.