Player Discussion Alexis Lafrenière

[ThirdEye]

I like that he's showing the ability to just find points lately. The great players find points when they're playing meh.

I still wanna see more initiative and more raw skill.

For example, on the first goal last night, he kind of fumbled Fox's pass but then just shoveled it over to Chytil in one motion.

Great, high-IQ, reaction play to get the puck to the open man without thinking, but he still fumbled the first pass. Had Chytil not been there, it could have easily been a turnover followed by the usual groans of a play dying on Lafreniere's stick.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that one.

Thought Fox's pass a little bit behind him which caused the fumble but could be wrong. Lots of things had to go right on that goal for sure

 

[TheDirtyH]

I like that he's showing the ability to just find points lately. The great players find points when they're playing meh.

I still wanna see more initiative and more raw skill.

For example, on the first goal last night, he kind of fumbled Fox's pass but then just shoveled it over to Chytil in one motion.

Great, high-IQ, reaction play to get the puck to the open man without thinking, but he still fumbled the first pass. Had Chytil not been there, it could have easily been a turnover followed by the usual groans of a play dying on Lafreniere's stick.

I wasn't sure how to feel about that one.

not every plays perfect. He made the right one there and even if you say he fumbled it, he recovered and made good out of it. Otoh, Kakkos goal happens because Lafreniere sold the pass across to him the whole time. Never moved his head or eyes or even his stick blade away from Kakko. That opened Chytil up and made the next pass possible.

 

[Machinehead]

not every plays perfect. He made the right one there and even if you say he fumbled it, he recovered and made good out of it. Otoh, Kakkos goal happens because Lafreniere sold the pass across to him the whole time. Never moved his head or eyes or even his stick blade away from Kakko. That opened Chytil up and made the next pass possible.

Yeah, he was great on the second goal. Made the entire play with speed.

 

[bbny]

Laf’s Rangers’ career in jeopardy imo.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

I actually thought he was one of the few decent players last night…

That said, I wouldn’t be broken up if they traded him

 

[bbny]

I actually thought he was one of the few decent players last night…

That said, I wouldn’t be broken up if they traded him

Unless they move Kreider or Panarin while simultaneously convincing them to waive their clauses, they've got Drury's first pick as GM in Othmann breathing down Laf's neck just itching for a spot next year. Something's gotta give, and right now, for better or for worse, Laf hasn't given enough reason to not be the odd guy out. The good thing is he should still carry quite a lot of value.

 

[LOFIN]

Unless they move Kreider or Panarin while simultaneously convincing them to waive their clauses, they've got Drury's first pick as GM in Othmann breathing down Laf's neck just itching for a spot next year. Something's gotta give, and right now, for better or for worse, Laf hasn't given enough reason to not be the odd guy out. The good thing is he should still carry quite a lot of value.

Does he? I think the Rangers would be stupid to trade him now, his value is fairly low I think.

 

[RangersFan1994]

Signs of Alex Daigle. Even he scored. Fading away. Out of league in under 10 years. He will only be a Ranger for 2 years at most. The way this organization is patient with young players.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Does he? I think the Rangers would be stupid to trade him now, his value is fairly low I think.

Not gonna get any higher under this regime

 

[ReHabs]

Habs fan here, but not obsessed with acquiring French players or anything.

I'm simply curious -- what would you think about Laf if he was on another team? If you wanted to acquire him for your (hypothetical other team) what price would you pay for Laf?

I'm having a hard time gauging his trade value.

 

[RangersFan1994]

Habs fan here, but not obsessed with acquiring French players or anything.

I'm simply curious -- what would you think about Laf if he was on another team? If you wanted to acquire him for your (hypothetical other team) what price would you pay for Laf?

I'm having a hard time gauging his trade value.

Arber Xhekaj, Owen Beck, Filip Mesar, 1st round pick for Lafy and Jones

 

[redwhiteandblue]

Trading any one of the kids would be a mistake IMO. At least at this point. It's going to suck having to bridge a couple of them, I think that leads to just more Cap constraint in the next window. Iit also will be the one way to keep it all together.

 

[TheDirtyH]

Othaman, a prospect with even less accomplishment at the junior level and even larger concerns about his skating than Lafreniere is breathing down Lafreniere's neck. Sure.

 

[bbny]

Does he? I think the Rangers would be stupid to trade him now, his value is fairly low I think.

I think he does. Kirby Dach got picks #13 and #66, and he was a 3OA. Lafreniere maybe hasn’t shown the 1OA potential, but he’s shown more than Dach did. Hasn’t he?

I’m not even thinking from a team standpoint only either. Lafreniere as a 1OA cannot be happy with his role here given his pedigree coming out of the draft.

 

[huerter]

Othaman, a prospect with even less accomplishment at the junior level and even larger concerns about his skating than Lafreniere is breathing down Lafreniere's neck. Sure.

People don't get how it works.

 

[RangersFan1994]

Othmann will be a better player than Lafrenierre. Gut feeling. Has more grit, skill, passion, emotion and always noticeable. Lafy is a ghost. Sad to see. Needs to be more engaged. Not that difficult with his skill. Lafy is just lazy.

 

[LOFIN]

Trading any one of the kids would be a mistake IMO. At least at this point. It's going to suck having to bridge a couple of them, I think that leads to just more Cap constraint in the next window. Iit also will be the one way to keep it all together.

If the rest of the team and kids were looking good and we were looking like a legit contender, I'd consider trading Laf away for a piece that would take us over the top. That's not the case at this point. There's no single piece that takes us over the top, and not interested in futures. Thus, you keep Laf and hope he pans out, instead of selling him low.

 

[Bruner4329]

I actually thought he was one of the few decent players last night…

That said, I wouldn’t be broken up if they traded him

I was there last night and to me it was evident that he was pretty bad. His movements on the ice were wasteful and seemed to be playing with no energy and purpose. To be fair he wasn't the only one but at this point I expected a lot more from him being a number 1. I just do not see the consistency and effort night in and out.

 

[bbny]

Othaman, a prospect with even less accomplishment at the junior level and even larger concerns about his skating than Lafreniere is breathing down Lafreniere's neck. Sure.

I mean you can quote me if you want to paraphrase me. IMO you have to be living under a rock or a Laffy fan boi to not recognize how the Rangers are feeling about Othmann. Lafreniere’s skating hasn’t improved 3 years in, and neither has his conditioning. He’s huffing wind after a 20 second shift.

 

[mrmovies779]

Othmann will be a better player than Lafrenierre. Gut feeling. Has more grit, skill, passion, emotion and always noticeable. Lafy is a ghost. Sad to see. Needs to be more engaged. Not that difficult with his skill. Lafy is just lazy.

Passion and emotion lol.Your take is really something special

 

[Shesterkybomb]

So you guys really think, without a doubt, that because players like Hughes and Zegras were "supposedly" force fed PP minutes (and not because they were, IMO, above talent NHL players right out of the gate points aside) that they reached new heights because they got 2-minutes or less PP minutes?

I've said it before, the elevation of one's game doesn't usually sprout up from play during the middle of the season, but after extensive work by that player in the off-season. Laf's legs don't suddenly get stronger during the regular season, nor his edge work, nor his hands, but it's the work he needs to put in during the off-season that we'll see the best gains. This is usually accomplished by the player's personal conditioning and development coach. A lot of players from different teams train under one coach together. This is why I'm staunchly against putting the bulk of the blame on the organization, because at the end of the day, like any other athlete, you put in your own work to get where you need to. However, it's never guaranteed that you'll get to what every NHL player wants, and that's to be the elite. Sometimes, players just reach a ceiling that they can't overcome.

Is it too early to call bust? Absolutely. Personally I don't think he's a bust, but his jump from exceptional juniors to average NHL'r seems to follow a pattern that we've seen from young players before around the league, over the years. Laf on PP1 is a pipe dream for now. I think Fil and Kakko 100% deserve more play time than Laf right now, but as it stands, the current PP1 we have is supplying most of the team's lifeblood and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

Laf played 4 periods with Zibanejad and had 2 goals in his most recent promotion, i think quality of ice time is an issue

 

[IronBloodedLion]

I thought he had broken out during the playoffs, but this year he’s just not playing well at all. Is he putting up points? Sure. Is he playing well though? Out of he, Chytil, and Kakko he’s impressed me the least this season.

 

[bhamill]

Holy moly. Overreact much? Hahaha. Othmann isn’t getting Laf traded. Laf isnt getting traded. Not because he’s untouchable, anyone can be traded for the right price, but there’s no way the NYR get what they think he is worth, teams will lowball, especially with some fans and media in this sort of irrational panic, so he is going nowhere. f***ing kid scored 19 EV goals last year in his D+2. He’s scoring at about .5 ppg in his D+3 while getting moved all over the lineup and getting very little pp time. He’s not going anywhere and this is the same thing people were saying about Kakko last year. Hahah. And Chytil for years.
No, he’s not playing as well as we expect him to, but trading him for not breaking out in 171 regular season games would be ridiculously short sighted. If we do that we deserve to get as burned on the trade as we will end up getting.

 

[Rangers in 7]

Holy moly. Overreact much? Hahaha. Othmann isn’t getting Laf traded. Laf isnt getting traded. Not because he’s untouchable, anyone can be traded for the right price, but there’s no way the NYR get what they think he is worth, teams will lowball, especially with some fans and media in this sort of irrational panic, so he is going nowhere. f***ing kid scored 19 EV goals last year in his D+2. He’s scoring at about .5 ppg in his D+3 while getting moved all over the lineup and getting very little pp time. He’s not going anywhere and this is the same thing people were saying about Kakko last year. Hahah. And Chytil for years.
No, he’s not playing as well as we expect him to, but trading him for not breaking out in 171 regular season games would be ridiculously short sighted. If we do that we deserve to get as burned on the trade as we will end up getting.

If he gets traded he turns it amonte. Quote me on this

How in gods name people can say that Othmann has more talent then laf is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read on here lol

 

[Cmox]

If he gets traded he turns it amonte. Quote me on this

How in gods name people can say that Othmann has more talent then laf is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read on here lol

Shiny new toy. Laff tore it up in Juniors too. I think a lot of fans have a instant gratification addiction but I also think the front office has it. The rebuild turned into a 1yr build. We laugh at Ottawa for the Zib trade. Lets not be Ottawa.