Confirmed with Link: Alexis Lafreniere Signs Extension [7Y/7.45M AAV]

[HockeyBasedNYC]

There are some elite level things we are seeing from him now, consistently.

On Trocheck's goal he deceptively faded away backwards when he received the pass from Gus to draw the defender to him and open up all of that space in the slot for Trocheck to step into for the goal. Thats a vision thing you'd expect from a player drafted so highly. Its also patience but while playing at a quicker pace. He's seeing the ice and the developing play really well. He and Panarin are clicking

I also loved how he just got the puck and one-timed it on net for Wheelers goal on the PP. He's not waiting around for anything, hes assertive and decisive, something we were concerned about in preseason when he was dreadfully plodding around all 3 zones. He's going to pick up a lot of points this way, especially on PP2 because there is an urgency there to get it to the net when there just isnt a lot of time for his group.

He also came really close to fooling Fluery with a strong wrist shot in the third I believe.

 

[Harbour Dog]

Exactly. This place is so bi-polar. In the preseason, Kakko was great and Laf needed to be waived. Now that Laf is producing and Kakko isn't, suddenly the roles are reversed.

Maybe people should try being a bit less reactionary.

Do you remember it always being this reactionary? It feels to me like there's been a big increase since I started lurking here around 2010/11. But I also feel like I'm a more laid back fan in general now, so it might just stand out to me more.

 

[surlysailor]

Do you think Staple is pissed about how he can't write about how Laf should be traded?

 

[GAGLine]

Do you remember it always being this reactionary? It feels to me like there's been a big increase since I started lurking here around 2010/11. But I also feel like I'm a more laid back fan in general now, so it might just stand out to me more.

I think people are just more focused on these 2 players in general because of how highly they were drafted.

 

[huerter]

It's early. He's quietly 3rd on the team in goals. His 2 EV goals are 2nd highest to Kreider's 3. His TOI is far less. He gets no PP1 time, and that's what's going to keep his points total and his goal scoring down. He has to do it all at 5v5. Not going talk about even strength as a whole because 4v4 and 3v3 he doesn't play. He has to do everything 5v5. That's not an easy task.

Trocheck while leading the forwards in ice time most night so far, all the PP1 time, he's got 1 goal. On the PP. While getting over 3 minutes per game on the PP. He's got 1 goal and 1 assist. Zibanejad hasn't scored but at least has 5 points. Fox has 5 points. Kreider has 5 points. Panarin has 7 points. Chytil has 5 points. Kakko has 2 points while getting no PP1 time...Trocheck has 2 points while getting PP1 time crammed down his throat. He needs to be off that unit, his ice time needs to be cut. Rangers best game of the season against Seattle, Trocheck's ice time was limited and the Rangers scored 4 goals. When he leads the forwards in ice time they struggle to score goals. Shocking.

He was so integral to Carolina that Carolina leads the NHL by a wide margin in time in the O zone this season. He wasn't of consequence for them. He's not for us either.

He rides coattails of better players around him. Coaches and fans love him because he skates around like a chicken with its head cut off. But he's ineffective in the offensive zone. He has no hands, he has no shot. Plain and simple. Put my grandmother on PP1 over an 82 game sample size with Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider, and Fox and she'll score 60 points in a season.

Lafreniere should be on PP1. Having a left handed shot in the high slot for Zibanejad to set up from the left wall makes the PP less predictable. As it stands now only the left side of the ice is shooting. Too predictable. Too many right handed shots. The only left handed shot is standing in front of the goaltender (Kreider). Put Laf, in the "bumper" spot, let Zibanejad set him up.

Huerter, a born and bred half court offense savant, knows that given our other personnel the bumper has to be a right handed shot. Gallant confirmed it. Kreider confirmed it. Why can't you live with it?

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

I think people are just more focused on these 2 players in general because of how highly they were drafted.

This.

As a fan base we never had a 1 and 2, not to mention our first rounder history has been...um.. mixed, at best. Then throw in the whole chicken and egg theory about WHY they have/have not performed on this team with its collection of stars and the so-called "rebuild"

With that comes a constant comparison with other top draft picks around the league, especially Hughes who is looking like a generational talent. Its the perfect storm for being impatient.

 

[IDvsEGO]

Huerter, a born and bred half court offense savant, knows that given our other personnel the bumper has to be a right handed shot. Gallant confirmed it. Kreider confirmed it. Why can't you live with it?

At this point If I'm pulling anyone from PP1 for Laf its Mika.

 

[Synergy27]

Do you remember it always being this reactionary? It feels to me like there's been a big increase since I started lurking here around 2010/11. But I also feel like I'm a more laid back fan in general now, so it might just stand out to me more.

It’s very difficult to not be reactionary when rooting for a team that never develops elite forward talent and the sitting by and watching as a can’t miss 1OA languishes.

 

[IDvsEGO]

This.

As a fan base we never had a 1 and 2, not to mention our first rounder history has been...um.. mixed, at best. Then throw in the whole chicken and egg theory about WHY they have/have not performed on this team with its collection of stars and the so-called "rebuild"

With that comes a constant comparison with other top draft picks around the league, especially Hughes who is looking like a generational talent. Its the perfect storm for being impatient.

It is, but anyone who watched the games should've seen the flashes. I pounded the table hard this offseason saying "the flashes were there, we just needed to actually give them both time", and I was frequently told I was wrong.
I'm not quite saying "i told you so yet" due to small sample size, but lets see where we are at the end of the year.

 

[bhamill]

It is, but anyone who watched the games should've seen the flashes. I pounded the table hard this offseason saying "the flashes were there, we just needed to actually give them both time", and I was frequently told I was wrong.
I'm not quite saying "i told you so yet" due to small sample size, but lets see where we are at the end of the year.

Yeah, my take remains that the team just wasn’t in the position to really invest in development over winning NOW. And without that investment it was fruitless to compare our 1 & 2OA‘s to traditionally handled high picks. I expected them to take longer. Lavi seems to have a better grasp of balancing developing and winning. We seem to be doing both for the time being.
No “I told you so“ from me, we all take our turns being on and off in our assessments.

 

[Harbour Dog]

It’s very difficult to not be reactionary when rooting for a team that never develops elite forward talent and the sitting by and watching as a can’t miss 1OA languishes.

I can see how this would lead people to be harder on the kids or the organization, sure; but I don't think it's enough to account for the wild fluctuations in player evaluation week to week. It's more likely that people just enjoy that style of fandom, and they're going to be reactionary regardless of how the team is playing.

Which is fine; if you aren't getting some form of entertainment out of it, what's the point. I'm just curious if it would have been this way, given the same circumstances, a decade+ ago.

 

[LORDE]

I'll keep coming into this thread & praise Laf for ALL he is doing right now.

I can't say enough, how night & day he's been & how amazingly effective he now is.

Again, pts & goals aside... he's CREATING

For himself & his teammates.

It's really a joy to be proven wrong & I hope he keeps feeding me crow.

I want all the crow plz

 

[duhmetreE]

It's not rocket science.

This is what I would hope for Zibs but he's busy trying to be 2022 Panarin

 

[NYR Viper]

Confidence is such an underrated variable in all of this

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

IMO as good as last night's game was for Laf, the best play he made was the decision to just fire the puck on net on PP2 off the pass with two bodies in front which led to the Wheeler goal. Super refreshing to see, and a welcome break from the cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-cycle-turnover way that unit has largely played over the past few seasons.

If that unit can become a viable threat to score, not only will Laf's point totals and PP confidence benefit, but the team will be much stronger on the whole.

I do think something happened towards the end of training camp that straightened him out, because he seems to be playing with much more intensity and speed in all 3 zones and now his confidence is really starting to catch up as well. Keep it up!

 

[Hunter Gathers]

As disappointing as Kakko has been (bottom 6 grinder, sorry guys - a modern day Marcel Hossa and I've said that for a couple of years, now), Laf's development is incredibly encouraging.

 

[NYR Viper]

As disappointing as Kakko has been (bottom 6 grinder, sorry guys - a modern day Marcel Hossa and I've said that for a couple of years, now), Laf's development is incredibly encouraging.

I still think Kakko has some untapped potential in him. I'm not writing him off from becoming a very good 50-60 point 2-way winger who owns possession and the boards. Think a passing version of Kreider

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

The one thing we've seen with Laf in past seasons is his ability to score goals and how he's adapted his game to get more production in tight.

To have better numbers we said he needed to add assists and more long range goals/threats by finding his way through the defense; which is where he excelled later in his junior years as a complete playmaker.

Whether or not the linemates he has had (mainly on the kid line) were a major player of the production type (or lack thereof), he needed to bring more of that playmaking ability to the table if he wanted to take the next step. We are seeing that now. His production isn't just one dimensional, its coming a lot of different ways.

Off the rush with speed, tip ins and junky goals not afraid to go to the net, stealing pucks and setting up goals off the wall on the forecheck, creating space for himself and teammates for high danger looks, getting off clean one-timers and getting pucks on net for broken plays from distance, etc.

 

[mas0764]

As disappointing as Kakko has been (bottom 6 grinder, sorry guys - a modern day Marcel Hossa and I've said that for a couple of years, now), Laf's development is incredibly encouraging.

Marcel Hossa had a career 61 points, Kakko had 40 last year at age 21.

I don’t think this comparison is apt.

 

[will1066]

I'll keep coming into this thread & praise Laf for ALL he is doing right now.

I can't say enough, how night & day he's been & how amazingly effective he now is.

Again, pts & goals aside... he's CREATING

For himself & his teammates.

It's really a joy to be proven wrong & I hope he keeps feeding me crow.

I want all the crow plz

You have to share with @I Eat Crow . You can't suddenly hog it all.

 

[Machinehead]

The Rangers are kicking teeth so far this season when he's on the ice.

 

[zlev]

how do you get the 23-24 player cards on evolving-hockey?

 

[rangersfansince08]

View attachment 766305
The Rangers are kicking teeth so far this season when he's on the ice.

And hopefully he will still get better. I'll admit I was shitting on him and did not see this coming. Happy it happened though.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

I still think Kakko has some untapped potential in him. I'm not writing him off from becoming a very good 50-60 point 2-way winger who owns possession and the boards. Think a passing version of Kreider

I assume you forgot to add in "very poor man's" before the word "passing", above?

 

[Gardner McKay]

View attachment 766305
The Rangers are kicking teeth so far this season when he's on the ice.

Do you have one for Josh Anderson? I just have to laugh after being lectured a few weeks ago on why Montreal would almost be doing the Rangers a favor by trading Anderson and his now 1 point in 13 games for Laf.