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Alexis Lafreniere - is he the 2nd best prospect since Crosby?

Is Alex Lafreniere the second best prospect since Crosby in 2005? (read question in OP)

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bobholly39

Registered User
Mar 10, 2013
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The best hockey prospect since Sidney Crosby (or, including him for those who think so) - is McDavid.

Whose #2? Personally, I think some of the highest touted prospects include Dahlin, Tavares, and maybe Matthews/Kane, possibly even Eichel, though that may be hype alongside McDavid. Maybe i'm forgetting a couple, but those jump out as the best. I think Lafreniere is up there in that higher tier, but how does he compare?

This isn't about recency bias - I think Lafreniere was being looked at years ago already as one of the next big ones, and he seemed even a year ago to be a higher caliber prospect than Hughes for example. So far in his draft year he's been firing on all cylinders. So is he the 2nd best prospect after McDavid?

I guess the best way to vote here would be to ask the following question. If all prospects post 2005 were eligible to be drafted in the same year, with no hindsight information available, and in a vacuum, where would Alexis Lafreniere be selected?

Feel free to rank or list those prospects who you feel are above him since 2005.
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bobholly39 said:
The question is about the "whoever". Crosby is just an easier reference point than McDavid, since I wanted to compare since 2005. No point in ranking Crosby and McDavid against each other here.
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Good of you to clarify, but I don't think you've met @McDavidCrushedLarkin

Crosby was the best and most hyped prospect in my life time. Even down in the states, he was getting front page headlines. No one has come close to that.
 
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I do think the winger thing matters, but I think he's definitely in the argument for it. If I were to rank the most hyped prospects since Crosby, they'd be:

1. McDavid - Obvious
2. Tavares - I think he's comfortably #2. Only thing taking away is that his draft year was relatively weak, but he kind of started that whole exceptional player status
3. Eichel - There's some inflation given the comparisons to McDavid, but he literally had everything you wanted in a franchise center. And even though people always talk about "if he was Canadian" with a lot of players in terms of their hype, I think there's something to be said about him being America's next big thing.

It's tough to rank defensemen because I think there's just much less expectation for them to transfer to the NHL as easily. Dahlin and Hedman had insane hype. Ekblad was up there with the exceptional status thing, but I don't think he was as high. I remember the Matthews/Laine hype being more than "good #1 picks" guys like Stamkos, MacKinnon, although I think coming the year after McDavid along with Toronto drafting may have played a big role. I also think how top heavy the 2013 draft was took away from MacKinnon's hype. Those top 4 picks were all seen as exceptional.

Patrick Kane really didn't have much hype for a #1 pick at all IMO. It was still at a time where smaller players weren't being fully accepted, and there were big questions about his size going into the NHL, even though his numbers in that season in the O were insane. 2007 was seen as really weak at the time though, so that helped him a bit.

I think Lafreniere is as safe as you can get for a prospect, but maybe lacks some of the flashiness as a prospect of Tavares with his goal-scoring ability. I think at the moment I'd have him at 3 or 4.
 
People seem to be over-rating MacKinnon as a prospect. Yes he was a good prospect but not even the sure-fire #1 pick in his draft. For much of the year people thought Seth Jones would go #1, and Drouin even had a better draft year than MacK. The top-4 that year could have gone in any order.
 
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geofff said:
People seem to be over-rating MacKinnon as a prospect. Yes he was a good prospect but not even the sure-fire #1 pick in his draft. For much of the year people thought Seth Jones would go #1, and Drouin even had a better draft year than MacK. The top-4 that year could have gone in any order.
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I agree. I always liked Mack and i remember thinking he should be the #1 pick - and he was a good #1 pick - but not a great one. He isn't top 5 in terms of prospect hype/strength imo, though not far past that.

Clearly with hindsight he's having a fantastic career.
 
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geofff said:
People seem to be over-rating MacKinnon as a prospect. Yes he was a good prospect but not even the sure-fire #1 pick in his draft. For much of the year people thought Seth Jones would go #1, and Drouin even had a better draft year than MacK. The top-4 that year could have gone in any order.
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After the memorial cup it was essentially a guarantee Mack was going first. He played with/against Jones and Drouin and showed just how much better he was.

Also anyone who actually followed Halifax instead of stat watching knew Drouin wasn’t the better player, just an arguably better junior player
 
Yup.

McDavid followed by Lafreniere are the best post Crosby prospects.

His raw skill, hockey IQ, and physicality are unmatched by any winger since Ovi.

Lafreniere is almost like a Gordie Howe clone, he’s absolutely nasty in the corners and will hit you with that reverse hit elbow like no ones business.
 
I think he's going to be a star player at the same level as say Tavares, Stamkos etc. NOT at the Crosby / Mcdavid or even Mackinnon
 
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dumbest thread ever ... trying to downplay 97's pre draft status at the same time trying to compare a prospect who is literally 2 tiers below McDavid as somehow a more promising prospect...

McDavid

Crosby











Lefreniere.
 
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nbwingsfan said:
After the memorial cup it was essentially a guarantee Mack was going first. He played with/against Jones and Drouin and showed just how much better he was.

Also anyone who actually followed Halifax instead of stat watching knew Drouin wasn’t the better player, just an arguably better junior player
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Thats the thing tho, Jones was #1 essentially the whole year until the last rankings, right after Mack's team beat his for the Mem. Cup.
 
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