Player Discussion Alexis Lafrenière

[Kords]

He also nearly scored another goal or two tonite.

Almost got two against Pittsburgh too. It's not just the points, he's getting high danger chances more frequently as well.

 

[Rangers in 7]

He’s moving his feet more and starting to find the soft spots in the offensive zone

I’ve been fighting people on here for awhile defending him and it’s finally starting to show

I still think he ends up as the top player in his draft class

 

[Ori]

2 points game

 

[bbny]

Almost got two against Pittsburgh too. It's not just the points, he's getting high danger chances more frequently as well.

This is what matters. Many of his goals early in the year weren't from generating a bunch of chances. They were frequently kind of lucky, gimme-type goals to be honest.

This is a different Lafreniere. Even moreso than the games on the top line. Absolutely buzzing. Chytil too. Those guys are feeding off each other. If there's something brewing there between those two...that answers a lot of questions about what the future might look like.

 

[NYR Viper]

He had a similar trajectory last year where he started to come on more towards the end of the year.

 

[mas0764]

He had a similar trajectory last year where he started to come on more towards the end of the year.

He has to produce more than 0.25 ppg for the first halfs of seasons.

 

[failure]

He’s moving his feet more and starting to find the soft spots in the offensive zone

I’ve been fighting people on here for awhile defending him and it’s finally starting to show

I still think he ends up as the top player in his draft class

Hopefully.

 

[Levitate]

He has to produce more than 0.25 ppg for the first halfs of seasons.

I'm willing to bet he takes a step forward next season in terms of starting stronger out of the gate. In a lot of ways this season was more like a continuation of his rookie season with a big gap in the middle.

At any rate, hopefully he keeps improving. Going to be hard to silence the critics until he's actually on the PP getting points there but even strength production is pretty dang important

 

[SnowblindNYR]

The main board don't disappoint, there's a thread about whether Lafreniere is the worst #1 overall in the modern era, albeit before tonight's fame.

1) He's playing the best hockey of his career, even coming into this game.

2) This is his second season, first full season.

3) If he doesn't improve one bit he's a very solid 3rd line player which is far more than Yakupov who is a no one.

 

[Lone Ranger]

I think Laf is a steady 30 goal, point per game player within two years.

 

[NYR Viper]

I think Laf is a steady 30 goal, point per game player within two years.

If he was playing #1 PP and about 18 minutes a game, he’s hovering around that THIS year.

It’s hard to explain properly how impressive his numbers are based on his usage.

 

[bl02]

If he was playing #1 PP and about 18 minutes a game, he’s hovering around that THIS year.

It’s hard to explain properly how impressive his numbers are based on his usage.

Yep look at a guy like Hughes. Gets almost 25 minutes of ice time and almost 4 min of pp time tonight.
I know Lafreniere has no chance of getting that much time with how good our top 2 LW's are but I would imagine he would have around 25 goals if he was getting 6 more minutes ES and 3-4 minutes more pp time a game.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

So much for skating being a “problem”

Still to this day remains the dumbest analysis I’ve seen of a player here.

 

[Inferno]

So much for skating being a “problem”

Still to this day remains the dumbest analysis I’ve seen of a player here.

Why is that dumb? He's definitely not a strong skater. He's super good at reading plays, particularly where to be to stop the counter attack. More than all his points I've been super impressed with how well he's played on the other side of the puck.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Why is that dumb? He's definitely not a strong skater. He's super good at reading plays, particularly where to be to stop the counter attack. More than all his points I've been super impressed with how well he's played on the other side of the puck.

Because it wasn’t holding him back.

He moves more than well enough. A big difference in his game now is that he’s getting more involved AND doing good things in high traffic areas. He was excellent at this in juniors and it’s starting to show at this level.

 

[Chaels Arms]

Because it wasn’t holding him back.

He moves more than well enough. A big difference in his game now is that he’s getting more involved AND doing good things in high traffic areas. He was excellent at this in juniors and it’s starting to show at this level.

I never understood everyone whining about his skating all the time as if that was the beginning and end of why he wasn't compiling numbers.

Jason Robertson is destroying the league right now and probably skates worse than Laf.

This conversation reminds me of when everyone's answer to any Ranger struggling was to just have them train with Barb Underhill as if that would magically solve all problems.

Laf's skating is fine.

 

[Chalfdiggity3]

I was at the game tonight, Laf played great!

He was hard on the puck, getting to lose pucks, being decisive with the puck, shooting, and his confidence is there which is key. His skating needs a bit of work which will come with getting his balance, core and leg strength up to be able to absorb players hanging on him or trying to push him off the puck..

The kid is 20yo. People just need some patience.

 

[Doctyl]

Should have drafted that German guy instead. What is his name again? Literally can't remember.

17 of Timbo’s points are on the power play. It’s insane how much people underestimate the importance of PP minutes for total production.

 

[Jauffre]

Laf's picking it up late here, like last season. So happy for him.

 

[WojtekWolski86]

17 of Timbo’s points are on the power play. It’s insane how much people underestimate the importance of PP minutes for total production.

Strome has 15 points on the PP as non contributor or just an extra. Nothing runs through him. Laf could easily get the same amount if not more in that spot. So add whatever strome gets on the PP and that's the floor. So Laf would hypothetically have 40 points through 62 games which many would be more than happy about.

 

[ORRFForever]

Stutzle

I think he was being sarcastic.

 

[ORRFForever]

Amazing how so many NHLers feast / boost their stats on the PP.

 

[Inferno]

Because it wasn’t holding him back.

He moves more than well enough. A big difference in his game now is that he’s getting more involved AND doing good things in high traffic areas. He was excellent at this in juniors and it’s starting to show at this level.

I mean...fine...but it's still easily the weakest part of his game and a very natural thing to point to that needs improvement.

 

[ThirdEye]

Slowly but surely figuring it out. He's still very far from a finished product.

Too bad that a guy shooting 18% cannot supplant a guy who has all of 3 goals this season on a top 3 PP playing with some of the best playmakers in the league.

I understand not wanting to fix something that's not broken but please for the love of God give Laf a chance.

 

[rangersfansince08]

Wouldn't surprise me if he is a better playoff player than regular season.