My opinion is unpopular and I’ve shared bits of it before, but here goes.
First of all - true or not - he seemed to think he was “one of the stars” and one of the big boys from day one, one of the core veteran group, someone who had already proven themselves. He hasn’t shown that he’s really worked on any area of his game very much, not his fitness, skating, etc and the grumbling over his deployment is FAR overblown. He was 22nd in the entire NHL in EV TOI for a LW last year. He was 98th among all forwards in EV TOI - that’s nearly 1st line TOI at even strength (32 teams x3 forwards per 1st line = 96).
He hasn’t gotten the PP time, sure, but he also hasn’t earned any. Sure, he could have just been spoon fed it on a worse team, but plenty of guys like Mercer and Jarvis should have also had good players ahead of them on the depth chart - they got an opportunity and RAN with it. Lafreniere has played with a lot of good players (including, his main linemates Chytil and Kakko, according to most here). The missing PP time wouldn’t give him a 20-30 point boost. It probably wouldn’t even give him a 15 point boost. I’m skeptical that year 3 Laf breaks 50 points even if stapled to the top PP. That’s not great for 1OA (though many would be happier, even if the overall PP was less effective, because even if Laf wasn’t any better of a player, seeing his counting stats creep higher would quell a lot of grumbling).
He’s done nothing with his opportunities or his ice time, which is NOT nearly as low as people act like it is. He also plays on the “kid line” comprised of 3 players that most Rangers fans seem to think all 3 belong in the top six. If that’s the case, than he’s playing with “top six talent”, isn’t he? And they’re getting softer matchups no less, while also getting nearly 1st line minutes at EV. A full top six caliber line of guys with room to get even better, playing against softer matchups because opponents have to divide their better defensive options among the K/Z line and the Bread line should let these kids feast a bit, no? They’re not rookies. 3, 4 and 5 years of experience.
Laf got a lot of hype and got compared to some really, really good players. WJC gold, MVP and #1OA seems to have been the summit of the mountain for him. Instead of realizing that being drafted - whether 1st or 50th - was just arriving at base camp and there was still a whole mountain to climb to actually be a star, he seemed to think going 1OA was the top of the mountain. He doesn’t seem to take his training seriously. Personally, I think he matured physically earlier than the kids he was playing against and hasn’t done anything to enhance that and ensure that he kept developing physically/athletically or from a skills or work ethic stand point.
He can still become a good player, but I highly doubt he will ever be a star or come close to the hype that he had. He comes across, and this is just my personal opinion (so relax) as an entitled and lazy guy who doesn’t have the innate drive to get better.
