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

[Guyute]

His advanced stats suck, give me Kakko every day of the week

 

[NYR Viper]

His advanced stats suck, give me Kakko every day of the week

What numbers are you looking at?

@ 5v5:
CF% 16.2
FF% 9.7
2.4 points/60

The one stat which seems odd to me is he has 5 hits through 14 games. Yes hits are pretty meaningless but that's still an absurdly low number

 

[McRanger92]

What numbers are you looking at?

@ 5v5:
CF% 16.2
FF% 9.7
2.4 points/60

The one stat which seems odd to me is he has 5 hits through 14 games. Yes hits are pretty meaningless but that's still an absurdly low number

His line has got the puck to much to be hitting anyone

 

[Guyute]

What numbers are you looking at?

@ 5v5:
CF% 16.2
FF% 9.7
2.4 points/60

The one stat which seems odd to me is he has 5 hits through 14 games. Yes hits are pretty meaningless but that's still an absurdly low number

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Just dishing out humble pie because I had it shoved in my face all summer long. There were only a handful of us suggesting 13 be given a chance: Rangers in 7, Kyk1827, myself, maybe a few others.

 

[Rangers in 7]

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Just dishing out humble pie because I had it shoved in my face all summer long. There were only a handful of us suggesting 13 be given a chance: Rangers in 7, Kyk1827, myself, maybe a few others.

im also enjoying the servings that others are having to take lol

 

[Raspewtin]

sorry fellas *rubs inhumanly bloated stomach full of squaking crows* what were we talking about again?

 

[Ruggs225]

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Just dishing out humble pie because I had it shoved in my face all summer long. There were only a handful of us suggesting 13 be given a chance: Rangers in 7, Kyk1827, myself, maybe a few others.

Its nice to see someone admit mistakes.

Now, would like to see some of the gallant supporters and “coaches dont matter” folks do the same.

 

[Hunter Gathers]

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Just dishing out humble pie because I had it shoved in my face all summer long. There were only a handful of us suggesting 13 be given a chance: Rangers in 7, Kyk1827, myself, maybe a few others.

Me 2 thx.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

His assist on the Wheeler goal vs Minnesota is still the best thing , no hesitation ripping a one timer from the blue line right on net.

That’s confidence, bad Laf would never take that shot.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Just dishing out humble pie because I had it shoved in my face all summer long. There were only a handful of us suggesting 13 be given a chance: Rangers in 7, Kyk1827, myself, maybe a few others.

But he was given a chance, he's been given nothing but chances since he's been here. I don't know off hand but I'm willing to bet his most common line mates last season were with good players and not 4th line scrubs. All we heard last year was that the Rangers were ruining him because he wasn't on the first line or first PP unit. His detractors, I was one of them, just wanted to see some flashes in whatever role he played but looked awful.

Maybe he just wasn't ready seasons prior, maybe the lightbulb in his head went off and he realized he needed to rethink how he trains in the offseason. It really doesn't matter and it's great he looks like a completely different player but I don't see his deployment or PP usage being the catalyst for what we're seeing now.

 

[LORDE]

Obligatory WOW he played great... points, goals or not. I'm super impressed thus far this season.

Yummy yummy crow in my tummy.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

But he was given a chance, he's been given nothing but chances since he's been here. I don't know off hand but I'm willing to bet his most common line mates last season were with good players and not 4th line scrubs. All we heard last year was that the Rangers were ruining him because he wasn't on the first line or first PP unit. His detractors, I was one of them, just wanted to see some flashes in whatever role he played but looked awful.

Maybe he just wasn't ready seasons prior, maybe the lightbulb in his head went off and he realized he needed to rethink how he trains in the offseason. It really doesn't matter and it's great he looks like a completely different player but I don't see his deployment or PP usage being the catalyst for what we're seeing now.

Gonna completely disagree with that.

Last season his top linemates were "the kid line" they often saw limited minutes, weren't prioritized for offensive zone starts, were roundly criticized and frequently benched when one of them made a mistake, and underappreciated when they had good games. PP2 was a complete afterthought and routinely saw <30 seconds of garbage time after the puck was cleared vs. now where Laviolette pulls PP1 off after a minute if it's not generating chances, and only lets them stay on past 70 seconds when they're generating and puck possession is sustained. Last year, he saw <10 games with Panarin at the start of the season, and was dumped from that line in 5 seconds. Same with playing with Kreider/Zibanejad, extremely short lived.

There is clearly a greater focus on incorporating him into the top lines, and Laf is seeing ice time late in games in tight situations which shows a level of confidence in him Coach Dingus never had when he was running out Goodrow and Vesey with the net empty to protect one goal leads, or riding Kreider/Zibanejad/Panarin/Fox/??? (no one under age 25, except maybe Miller) for two minute shifts at the end of games when the team needed a tying goal. He was playing well and got a shot in the shootout instead of being buried 6th or 7th in the order. He's seeing over a minute and 15 seconds MORE ice time per game than last year, which is a greater jump than the jump from either of his first two seasons to last year. While he's generally always gotten more O-zone starts than D-zone, he's now getting more O-zone starts than neutral zone for the first time (Gallant loved to start the kid line in the neutral zone).

His usage and handling is much different, and I'm glad he seems to have taken it to heart and is responding.

 

[Vito Andolini]

I've been pretty critical of him, but he's playing about as well as anyone can have hoped for. Happy to see it.

The team is jiving and Laf isn't just a passenger. That said...it's November. We're 14 games in. Let's not get carried away.

 

[Rangers in 7]

But he was given a chance, he's been given nothing but chances since he's been here. I don't know off hand but I'm willing to bet his most common line mates last season were with good players and not 4th line scrubs. All we heard last year was that the Rangers were ruining him because he wasn't on the first line or first PP unit. His detractors, I was one of them, just wanted to see some flashes in whatever role he played but looked awful.

Maybe he just wasn't ready seasons prior, maybe the lightbulb in his head went off and he realized he needed to rethink how he trains in the offseason. It really doesn't matter and it's great he looks like a completely different player but I don't see his deployment or PP usage being the catalyst for what we're seeing now.

this is revisionist history, sticking laf on a line with panarin or kreider and zib for 1 game and telling him not to make mistakes or youll be stapled to the bench is WAY different then what we have today

laf and kakko to an exent werent given the leash to go out and make mistakes like other members of this team got

the main difference is confidence, something he could have gotten earlier had he been put in positions to succeed. everyone on this forum pointed to his production this pre-season which was a month ago and stated nothing had changed. he doesnt look bigger or stronger so to now point at he trained differently when he looked like shit this pre-season doesnt make sense. sorry

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

this is revisionist history, sticking laf on a line with panarin or kreider and zib for 1 game and telling him not to make mistakes or youll be stapled to the bench is WAY different then what we have today

laf and kakko to an exent werent given the leash to go out and make mistakes like other members of this team got

the main difference is confidence, something he could have gotten earlier had he been put in positions to succeed. everyone on this forum pointed to his production this pre-season which was a month ago and stated nothing had changed. he doesnt look bigger or stronger so to now point at he trained differently when he looked like shit this pre-season doesnt make sense. sorry

If you can't admit he looked absolutely horrendous for long stretches last year, regardless of who he was playing with, then I don't know what to say. To be honest, he didn't belong anywhere near either PP unit last year and they kept putting him out. There were stretches of games where he should have sat in the pressbox and they kept putting him out there. If anything, he had too long a leash last year. And if you don't think he looks noticeably better skating-wise this year, I don't think you're being honest. And for the record, I never said he was a bust or he should be traded or any of that nonsense. But something definitely changed and I don't think it's just who his RW or C are.

 

[Rangers in 7]

If you can't admit he looked absolutely horrendous for long stretches last year, regardless of who he was playing with, then I don't know what to say. To be honest, he didn't belong anywhere near either PP unit last year and they kept putting him out. There were stretches of games where he should have sat in the pressbox and they kept putting him out there. If anything, he had too long a leash last year. And if you don't think he looks noticeably better skating-wise this year, I don't think you're being honest. And for the record, I never said he was a bust or he should be traded or any of that nonsense. But something definitely changed and I don't think it's just who his RW or C are.

he looked terrible because he was playing timid hockey, afraid to make mistakes

people were calling for him to be traded a month ago.....

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

he looked terrible because he was playing timid hockey, afraid to make mistakes

people were calling for him to be traded a month ago.....

I'm glad he decided not to play timid hockey and isn't afraid of making a mistake. It suits him.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

not that i wished this for a second as i actually thought that chytil was going to keep progressing from what he did from the 2nd half of last season, but his injury might actually be a blessing in disguise. the bread 13 tro line has been real good since the injury.

lavi already recognizes that for some time now the zib kreider line is only good for penalty kills and PP unit play. 5x5 not so much. so it was more than imperative that 13 be paired up with bread so that maybe some decent 5x5 pt production can come out of that. this is the most responsibility that has been placed on 13's shoulders in his entire career. most had doubts, especially after that shit pre-season. and he's responded - how about that? and if anyone was to tell me that he was going to get 30 shifts in a game a month ago...

lavi has wonders for the kid. i think that given time lavi will also have the zib line get going 5x5. zib will be fine and wheeler actually has been slowly coming around lately.

what's real interesting is how will teams throughout the league plan against the bread line. i'm sure they are aware of what's been transpiring as there's enough game tapes to display their play. how will the bread line react?

 

[IDvsEGO]

Sorry, I was being sarcastic. Just dishing out humble pie because I had it shoved in my face all summer long. There were only a handful of us suggesting 13 be given a chance: Rangers in 7, Kyk1827, myself, maybe a few others.

Uh I’d like myself listed there please.

 

[mas0764]

Right before the season started, someone from the press tweeted footage and said that Laf and Lav had like a 30 minute on-ice conversation at the end one of their practices. No one else was there.

No idea what was discussed, but whatever Lav said to him, it was clearly what Laf needed to hear.

Remember when we were all worried when an older coach got hired? Imagine if he could activate Kakko in the same way. We’d be actual contenders.

It seems to me that Lavi or Peca or someone had a plan for unlocking Lafreniere.

Obviously there's a different skill set there, but I wish they'd come up with a plan and have a 30 min talk with Kakko.

And Kakko looked so good in the preseason. Unlock this guy, Peca.

Maybe yes, maybe no. We are beating teams that we should beat, and that is fantastic. I'm not taking anything away from them because there are no easy NHL games and we didn't have that sort of consistency in many past years. But we are a bit untested against the best teams so far.

And there is an elephant in the room that makes me pause as to whether this is sustainable: too much of the team's success (I'd say most of it) is due to the individual play of Panarin so far. He has been brilliant. But if gets injured or an opponent gameplans well around neutralizing him, the rest of the team may not be enough to make a deep run.

I would more safely consider us to be contenders if we had more balanced scoring throughout the lineup. Right now, I think we're still unproven.

But it's really early in the season so far. We haven't even hit December yet and that is when the team started looking good last year.

Agreed, it's nice we are banking these points but this isn't all that different from many of the win streaks we have gone on in the last 2 years.

We are a good team, a good team that could win a Cup if we get the breaks.

We will need Lafreniere to keep going and that line to keep working and ALSO to have Kakko/Zibanejad start driving their lines to become true favorites.

 

[Shesterkybomb]

He looks so much faster this year. Maybe it's the system or the off season work or whatever else but good for him. He's a completely different player this season who's getting it done while still not getting any PP1 time. So maybe lets put that issue (excuse) to bed and keep it rolling.

He still should be on the pp, he's a different player due to opportunity and confidence, people were still saying he was slow and out of shape in the preseason. Thankfully the GM wasn't listening to all the stupid idiotic trade ideas and braindead opinions of a young player going on in the summer and preseason.

Uh I’d like myself listed there please.

Me too

 

[mike14]

this is revisionist history, sticking laf on a line with panarin or kreider and zib for 1 game and telling him not to make mistakes or youll be stapled to the bench is WAY different then what we have today

laf and kakko to an exent werent given the leash to go out and make mistakes like other members of this team got

the main difference is confidence, something he could have gotten earlier had he been put in positions to succeed. everyone on this forum pointed to his production this pre-season which was a month ago and stated nothing had changed. he doesnt look bigger or stronger so to now point at he trained differently when he looked like shit this pre-season doesnt make sense. sorry

It's not revisionist history though.
Through the 1st 13 games of last season (ie the same point as now basically) Laf played exclusively with Tro and Panarin. That line was 1st in 5v5 ice-time 11 times and 2nd the other two. Laf himself was 1st in 5v5 icetime 6 times in those games, 2nd another 4 and 3rd twice.
He just didn't look anything like he does now.

Even when they put the kid line back together for 8 games (before they split it up again for 6 games then went back to it again) that lines was 1st in TOI 4 times and 2nd twice. Laf was anywhere from 3-8th in ice time.

In the vast majority of those games he looked like an absolute passenger and it wasn't because he was on some 'leash'.

It's absolutely brilliant that Laf is starting to look like the player (almost) everyone thought and/or hoped he'd be, but to say it's happening because he's finally being given an opportunity is BS. This is just the first time he seems to be really maximizing the opportunity given.

 

[Pawnee Rangers]

He still should be on the pp, he's a different player due to opportunity and confidence, people were still saying he was slow and out of shape in the preseason. Thankfully the GM wasn't listening to all the stupid idiotic trade ideas and braindead opinions of a young player going on in the summer and preseason.


Me too

He’s doing all of this without PP 1 time was my point.

It's not revisionist history though.
Through the 1st 13 games of last season (ie the same point as now basically) Laf played exclusively with Tro and Panarin. That line was 1st in 5v5 ice-time 11 times and 2nd the other two. Laf himself was 1st in 5v5 icetime 6 times in those games, 2nd another 4 and 3rd twice.
He just didn't look anything like he does now.

Even when they put the kid line back together for 8 games (before they split it up again for 6 games then went back to it again) that lines was 1st in TOI 4 times and 2nd twice. Laf was anywhere from 3-8th in ice time.

In the vast majority of those games he looked like an absolute passenger and it wasn't because he was on some 'leash'.

It's absolutely brilliant that Laf is starting to look like the player (almost) everyone thought and/or hoped he'd be, but to say it's happening because he's finally being given an opportunity is BS. This is just the first time he seems to be really maximizing the opportunity given.

This is perfect

 

[Greg02]

It's not revisionist history though.
Through the 1st 13 games of last season (ie the same point as now basically) Laf played exclusively with Tro and Panarin. That line was 1st in 5v5 ice-time 11 times and 2nd the other two. Laf himself was 1st in 5v5 icetime 6 times in those games, 2nd another 4 and 3rd twice.
He just didn't look anything like he does now.

Even when they put the kid line back together for 8 games (before they split it up again for 6 games then went back to it again) that lines was 1st in TOI 4 times and 2nd twice. Laf was anywhere from 3-8th in ice time.

In the vast majority of those games he looked like an absolute passenger and it wasn't because he was on some 'leash'.

It's absolutely brilliant that Laf is starting to look like the player (almost) everyone thought and/or hoped he'd be, but to say it's happening because he's finally being given an opportunity is BS. This is just the first time he seems to be really maximizing the opportunity given.

I was legitimately worrying that he was trending towards not an NHLer. I don't think those fears were completely unfounded.

That said, happy for the Laf truthers to take a victory lap. We'll probably never know who was right about the reasons, but we can all be happy with the results. Somehow being "wrong" isn't stinging very much.

 

[LORDE]

If you can't admit he looked absolutely horrendous for long stretches last year, regardless of who he was playing with, then I don't know what to say. To be honest, he didn't belong anywhere near either PP unit last year and they kept putting him out. There were stretches of games where he should have sat in the pressbox and they kept putting him out there. If anything, he had too long a leash last year. And if you don't think he looks noticeably better skating-wise this year, I don't think you're being honest. And for the record, I never said he was a bust or he should be traded or any of that nonsense. But something definitely changed and I don't think it's just who his RW or C are.

He also looked like utter trash in pre-season.

No one is taking away what he's NOW doing but there were plenty of reasons to NOT play him on PP1 or w/bread or whatever in the prior years.

I'm keeping it positive & hoping the Cinderella Carriage doesn't turn back into a pumpkin.

Keep goin Laf!!!!