the thing is people act like his skating was this huge bottleneck to his game that was preventing him from showcasing his abilities. I find it to be a cope from those who won’t admit the team sucks at optimizing young players so they cling to a Laf quote identifying skating as an area to improve.
Interestingly this guy seems to think Lafrenieres skating has always been a plus attribute especially lateral shiftiness.
I mean it’s noticeably better this year…
No one is saying that he was the worst skater in the world, he still put up 19 goals from 3rd line…
But just by watching him. Forget what the guy says or forget what Laf says himself, your own eyes can see he’s creating more space for himself by using his legs. Whether it’s getting into more open areas of the ice or not getting walled off/immediately cancelled by a defending player.
He’s holding the puck longer on his stick than he ever used to.
Kakko had a similar jump in his legs when he put up 40pts last year.
He was noticeably different from the year before as well…
Coincidentally it was also his 22-23 year old season as well I believe.
This season a poor start from Zibby/kreids-poor puck luck from him then injury marred his entire year.
There’s also a noticeable uptick in lads stamina as well.
Hes not as gassed or bent over after/end of shifts as he used to be…
If you’re looking for just 1 thing to boil it down too of why he’s had success this year it’s not going to be summed up by skating or confidence…
It’s a multitude of things that went his way and the hard work he put in into season is showing.
He’s always had the talent and hands with a good head on his shoulders. You don’t get picked 1OA without that