Player Discussion Alexis Lafrenière

[leetch99]

as long as the player plays a physical game and goes to the net. Another finesse forward that does not go to the net is not needed. Rangers have enough of those.

Max Domi would be nice. He agitates and draws penalties.

Gauthier draws one every game and costs us peanuts. Hard to figure wh so many are so quick to want him gone . Drawing a penalty and getting scoring chances every game is as good as scoring 12 goals I figure over an 80 game schedule when you talk 4th line winger at less than a million per season.

 

[haohmaru]

Gauthier draws one every game and costs us peanuts. Hard to figure wh so many are so quick to want him gone . Drawing a penalty and getting scoring chances every game is as good as scoring 12 goals I figure over an 80 game schedule when you talk 4th line winger at less than a million per season.

Gauthier has been a one of the real bright spots this season for sure

 

[leetch99]

I also thought he showed well in general in front. He had a very nice deflection and wasn’t shy about going to the crease. PP and EV.

I agree...and now we just need Panarin to pass it to him instead of attempting a rink wide pass for a Mika one timer . There were two chances to do that against Dallas....and Panarin failed twice.

 

[cwede]

expecting a breakout game against Habs on Sunday, and spilling into Monday vs lowly CBJ
the extra icetime is good for him

 

[ReddestRum]

Gauthier draws one every game and costs us peanuts. Hard to figure wh so many are so quick to want him gone . Drawing a penalty and getting scoring chances every game is as good as scoring 12 goals I figure over an 80 game schedule when you talk 4th line winger at less than a million per season.

In a 10 game span, Goat has two less shots than Laf and doesn't even have nearly the amount of minutes played. Not even close. Laf just doesn't get enough pucks on net because he's a support player and not a shooter in this league.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Alexi still looks like a teenager playing video games and eating pizza...he needs to go shopping with Hank for some new clothes and go out with Filip and K2 for some sea urchin and down some bourbon...do that for a week he should be better.

He looks 35 lol

 

[haohmaru]

expecting a breakout game against Habs on Sunday, and spilling into Monday vs lowly CBJ
the extra icetime is good for him

21:21 of ice time last game and.... scored just as many points as usual.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

21:21 of ice time last game and.... scored just as many points as usual.

Good. let him getting another 20 minutes next game, and another 20 the game after. Finally getting some real experience out there and hopefully will start to develop quicker.

 

[bhamill]

stop it - he's pretty bad.

he maybe 6th in EV. that's a low bar if anything. those other guys maybe tied or a pt or two higher in EV but those guys are also dong invaluable other things that are noticeable when one watches them play that aren't reflected on the box scores. and those other guys are the main PP1 guys as their contributions there ought to offset any narrative regarding their EV's in line with laffy's.

the only excuses that he has going for him is his age and how he's not being used the same way as other teams have in the past with 1OA's. those teams are usually defensively undisciplined, which enables those 1OA's to go out and think offense only. if laffy was drafted by any other of those teams other than us or kings that draft year then yeah one i suppose to could make a very strong case that he would have way more points on his tally.

the game even now in his 3rd season still looks too fast for him. his reactions are just not on par compared to an average good nhl player. in my eyes this guy i would regard as a project in progress. maybe he develops into a 60 pt player in 2-3 years.

I love how stats like how much EV time he is getting are used to run him down… until they are put in perspective with further numbers… THEN, “stats don’t matter!” Hahahaha. Then it’s suddenly the eye test that matters, something that, conveniently, can’t be quantified and is totally subjective to the individual with his narratives and biases. Nowhere did I say Laf is playing well. In fact I’ve said repeatedly he isn’t. And yet his stats track well for him in comparison to others. I’m not making excuses, I don’t need to: the numbers are the numbers. You don’t like it? That doesn’t matter at all. What I see is a barely 21 year old kid who is certainly not playing well, but is not any where near his potential yet, is nowhere near fully developed, hasn’t gained the man strength his top game requires, is not getting great usage, and yet is scoring at a rate comparable to all but two star forwards on the team... Where is the lie? IMO he will be a cornerstone player here. You don’t have to agree, but you can’t demonstrate where I’m wrong to think it either.

 

[haohmaru]

Good. let him getting another 20 minutes next game, and another 20 the game after. Finally getting some real experience out there and hopefully will start to develop quicker.

This narrative is just crap. He's 5th on the team in even strength ice time and there are players (Kakko, Chytil) who "deserve" more ice time and more PP time than he does.

If he wants to develop quicker, he needs to do so this off season and fix it between the ears RIGHT NOW.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

I love how stats like how much EV time he is getting are used to run him down… until they are put in perspective with further numbers… THEN, “stats don’t matter!” Hahahaha. Then it’s suddenly the eye test that matters, something that, conveniently, can’t be quantified and is totally subjective to the individual with his narratives and biases. Nowhere did I say Laf is playing well. In fact I’ve said repeatedly he isn’t. And yet his stats track well for him in comparison to others. I’m not making excuses, I don’t need to: the numbers are the numbers. You don’t like it? That doesn’t matter at all. What I see is a barely 21 year old kid who is certainly not playing well, but is not any where near his potential yet, is nowhere near fully developed, hasn’t gained the man strength his top game requires, is not getting great usage, and yet is scoring at a rate comparable to all but two star forwards on the team... Where is the lie? IMO he will be a cornerstone player here. You don’t have to agree, but you can’t demonstrate where I’m wrong to think it either.

I don't understand the Laf haters. They want to bury him in the depth chart, but they don't want to trade him because what if he goes off?

It's like they want him to turn into another replaceable third line grinder.

 

[bhamill]

21:21 of ice time last game and.... scored just as many points as usual.

Haha. Yeah but how many players scored higher? It was a 2-1 OT win where no NYR scored in the first 59.9 minutes. Guess all the Dallas players suck too. Hahaha.

I don't understand the Laf haters. They want to bury him in the depth chart, but they don't want to trade him because what if he goes off?

It's like they want him to turn into another replaceable third line grinder.

Which they will then complain about.

 

[ReddestRum]

Good. let him getting another 20 minutes next game, and another 20 the game after. Finally getting some real experience out there and hopefully will start to develop quicker.

I'm hoping CK comes back sooner than later so we can end this dumb ass experiment. He plays exactly the same, each game, every game. It doesn't matter where you put him or how much TOI you give him. Flashes of good plays and flashes of plays any other NHL'r would try to make, then going invisible for the majority of the game, with usually nothing to show for it. Still, it's fun to see you guys talk about EV so much in this thread. I don't think I've seen the term mentioned this much anywhere else, but it's whatever in terms of the stats you guys need to come up with in order to keep comparing to vastly superior (this isn't even hyperbole) players, by all means. Alexis "EV" Lafreniere has a great ring to it.

No other bottom 6 player in the league gets these chances he gets, and every time he does get the benefit of the doubt, he doesn't do anything with it.

I don't understand the Laf haters. They want to bury him in the depth chart, but they don't want to trade him because what if he goes off?

It's like they want him to turn into another replaceable third line grinder.

If the price is right, keep him. If it isn't, move him. Personally, I'd give him one more season to see if he's a better player after the off-season. That's it.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

This narrative is just crap. He's 5th on the team in even strength ice time and there are players (Kakko, Chytil) who "deserve" more ice time and more PP time than he does.

If he wants to develop quicker, he needs to do so this off season and fix it between the ears RIGHT NOW.

And he has just as many ES points as Kreider and Trocheck. So I guess he playing pretty well at ES based on that. So the narrative that he is playing god awful is just as silly.

 

[haohmaru]

Haha. Yeah but how many players scored higher? It was a 2-1 OT win where no NYR scored in the first 59.9 minutes. Guess all the Dallas players suck too. Hahaha.

I keep hearing how more ice time and he'll morph into the guy we thought we drafted. There wasn't much to see with him on the PP and playing 20+ minutes. Maybe he needs 30 minutes?

The truth is he needs to fix it in his head first.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I'm hoping CK comes back sooner than later so we can end this dumb ass experiment. He plays exactly the same, each game, every game. It doesn't matter where you put him or how much TOI you give him. Flashes of good plays and flashes of plays any other NHL'r would try to make, then going invisible for the majority of the game, with usually nothing to show for it. Still, it's fun to see you guys talk about EV so much in this thread. I don't think I've seen the term mentioned this much anywhere else, but it's whatever in terms of the stats you guys need to come up with in order to keep comparing to vastly superior (this isn't even hyperbole) players, by all means. Alexis "EV" Lafreniere has a great ring to it.

No other bottom 6 player in the league gets these chances he gets, and every time he does get the benefit of the doubt, he doesn't do anything with it.



If the price is right, keep him. If it isn't, move him. Personally, I'd give him one more season to see if he's a better player after the off-season. That's it.

Good. A first overall pick SHOULD be getting all those chances and more. Only took 2 and half years but he's on the PP1 for a game. You're right, he's definitely got sooo many chances over these 2 1/2 years.

 

[ReddestRum]

Good. A first overall pick SHOULD be getting all those chances and more.

A first overall pick SHOULD look like a first overall pick, lmao.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

A first overall pick SHOULD look like a first overall pick, lmao.

Cool.

 

[bhamill]

This narrative is just crap. He's 5th on the team in even strength ice time and there are players (Kakko, Chytil) who "deserve" more ice time and more PP time than he does.

If he wants to develop quicker, he needs to do so this off season and fix it between the ears RIGHT NOW.

You aren’t wrong about needing off season work IMO.
HOWEVER, the sort of minutes, as opposed to the number, and the responsibility he gets with Keider out is definitely good for his development.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I keep hearing how more ice time and he'll morph into the guy we thought we drafted. There wasn't much to see with him on the PP and playing 20+ minutes. Maybe he needs 30 minutes?

The truth is he needs to fix it in his head first.

Nobody is saying that but he should be given the opportunity to see what happens.

 

[haohmaru]

And he has just as many ES points as Kreider and Trocheck. So I guess he playing pretty well at ES based on that. So the narrative that he is playing god awful is just as silly.

He also gets more OZS's than pretty much every forward on the team.

And no, he's not god awful, but he has been pretty bad for over a month. No goals. One point in seven games and he's getting rewarded with Kreider's spot on the PP. It makes little sense.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

He also gets more OZS's than pretty much every forward on the team.

And no, he's not god awful, but he has been pretty bad for over a month. No goals. One point in seven games and he's getting rewarded with Kreider's spot on the PP. It makes little sense.

Young players have slumps and inconsistency issues. We know he is a work in progress. Let him work through them. Let the coaching staff show they believe in him (which they are at this moment). This is perfect for him right now.

 

[haohmaru]

Nobody is saying that but he should be given the opportunity to see what happens.

Everybody is crying about ice time and PP time and acting like this will "help him develop". It could just as easily do the reverse if he plays on the first line and still can't score. The guy is playing like the puck is a hand grenade and trying to defer to other players as quickly as possible - even on the third line.

Young players have slumps and inconsistency issues. We know he is a work in progress. Let him work through them. Let the coaching staff show they believe in him (which they are at this moment). This is perfect for him right now.

I want him to be successful as I'm sure everybody does - I'm just not sure that more ice time and more pressure to produce is the way to do it. I'm really not sure what the answer is at this point.

 

[ReddestRum]

Good. A first overall pick SHOULD be getting all those chances and more. Only took 2 and half years but he's on the PP1 for a game. You're right, he's definitely got sooo many chances over these 2 1/2 years.

Give me a break. If Laf showed the confidence, skills, and hands to command the PP, he would've been out there a long time ago. Frankly, I would put Kakko out there before him. HELL, I'd f***ing put tall ass Miller out in CK's spot. I don't know why it's so hard to grasp that you have to show that you can play at the level you guys want him to play with the time he has first. No one has been spoon fed on the Rangers. Not Kakko, not Miller, not Chy, not anyone. 1OA shouldn't guarantee that you play at the top. 1OA guarantees that you have a shot to play at the top. That's it. Earn it. That's it. That's all I want him to do is look like the Top 6 player you guys are trying to force him to be.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Everybody is crying about ice time and PP time and acting like this will "help him develop". It could just as easily do the reverse if he plays on the first line and still can't score. The guy is playing like the puck is a hand grenade and trying to defer to other players as quickly as possible - even on the third line.

There is a big difference in saying it will "Help him develop" than "morphing into a superstar player suddenly"

And again, we know he is a work in progress. This is how you get better, by playing. If he doesn't' get better by next year, then we can start panicking.