Player Discussion Alexis Lafreniere

[Ned Braden]

It looks like Laf made the correct read? He's the forward coming back. What the hell is Lindgren doing? LAFONYAY goes to the Isles player crossing the blue line. Lindgren should read that; it is happening directly in front of him. Also, he has blinders on and doesn't see Pageau breaking. Lindgren continues to drift over, LAFONYAY sees this and that's when he changes his target to Pageau and tries to catch up with him.

I will say he coasted two strides and that cost him. It is maybe a communication issue or a system issue between Lindgren and LAFONYAY.

Are you serious? Everyone did their job on that paly except Laf. Pageau was behind Laf in the neutral zone...and Laf allowed Pageau to skate right by him to the front of the net. Even his desperation dive was a shitty reaching effort instead of moving his feet. A peewee hockey player would get called out for this shit.

Everyone on the ice and bench would expect Laf to pick up Pageau there. Everyone. This is what Laviolette was talking about with back checking effort yesterday, and this is why coaches bench this guy.

It's an inexcusably lazy play.

 

[ReddestRum]

Are you serious? Everyone did their job on that paly except Laf. Pageau was behind Laf in the neutral zone...and Laf allowed Pageau to skate right by him to the front of the net. Even his desperation dive was a shitty reaching effort instead of moving his feet. A peewee hockey player would get called out for this shit.

Everyone on the ice and bench would expect Laf to pick up Pageau there. Everyone. This is what Laviolette was talking about with back checking effort yesterday, and this is why coaches bench this guy.

It's an inexcusably lazy play.

Agreed. I'm not sure why we're blaming the D here. Linds has got to pressure the guy on the boards or it could lead to a 2v1 as well as a free possession if he backtracks back into the slot area. Laf has got to catch up to his man here, but he's clearly gassed. This is the NHL though and the coach wants you to keep trucking your legs here even if you can't catch up to the man.

Also, might be a little miscommunication here between Linds and Laf at who takes who, but the general rule is the backchecker picks up the trailer and the player without the puck because the D is going to focus on the player with the puck.

Bad communication, late pickup, Laf drifting in the neutral zone, goal against.

 

[Machinehead]

It's not worth analyzing Lindgren's performance when Fox and Miller don't play.

Lindgren's whole existence here depends on Fox elevating him without having to pay a conventional first pairing price.

If we decide to not have him with Fox, Miller would be taking the big minutes.

 

[will1066]

Are you serious? Everyone did their job on that paly except Laf. Pageau was behind Laf in the neutral zone...and Laf allowed Pageau to skate right by him to the front of the net. Even his desperation dive was a shitty reaching effort instead of moving his feet. A peewee hockey player would get called out for this shit.

Everyone on the ice and bench would expect Laf to pick up Pageau there. Everyone. This is what Laviolette was talking about with back checking effort yesterday, and this is why coaches bench this guy.

It's an inexcusably lazy play.

Laf was with Pageau up to the Rangers blue line. Pageau actually slows down to avoid going offsides. That's when Laf stops. I acknowledged this. Pageau is in the clear now. But Lindgren and Laf didn't communicate as to who would take who. Lindgren could have switched man on man to go get Pageau. I acknowledge Laf slowing down created the situation. Lindgren, I feel, should have barked orders but he drifts too in no man's land and leaves the gap open.

 

[Profet]

It's not worth analyzing Lindgren's performance when Fox and Miller don't play.

Lindgren's whole existence here depends on Fox elevating him without having to pay a conventional first pairing price.

If we decide to not have him with Fox, Miller would be taking the big minutes.

Also, do we really want Lindgren playing his game in the pre season?

I'd rather have him sacrificing his body when there are actual stakes involved.

We all know the deficiencies in his game. I believe that him putting his body on the line night in and night out is a net positive.

His preseasons are always going to look terrible.

 

[RangersFan1994]

Lafréniere would be better on a rrebuilding or not a great team.. the sooner the Rangers trade him, the little value he has, they can get something useful for him.

 

[RickChartraw]

I can't believe people are making excuses for Laf on that play. Laf literally coasted 120 feet. Maybe people around Laf making excuses for that kind of effort is the reason he is not becoming a better player? If I was a NYR coach I would sit in a meeting with Laf and have that play on a video non stop in the background for the full meeting till Laf got the hint.

Laviolette's approach during this meeting with Lafreniere.

 

[LokiDog]

The things that make Laf hard to root for after 3 years of disappointment and still not coming to camp motivated:


“Hey Laf, why did you coast on that Pageau goal?”

 

[Mandar]

The things that make Laf hard to root for after 3 years of disappointment and still not coming to camp motivated:


“Hey Laf, why did you coast on that Pageau goal?”

View attachment 748033

Well, you gotta admit that he practices the same wat that he plays.

 

[RangersFan1994]

I wonder if Senators might have interest in Lafréniere


Something around Lafréniere ++ for Pinto

 

[zlev]

Preseason or not is no excuse for this shitty backchecking effort.

let's not focus on the fact that there were 2 D back and one got completely burned while the other just watched the play. Laf has his man covered if Lindgren does literally anything to disrupt the pass into the f***ing slot.

i gotta say the Lindgren-Schneider pairing was absolutely AIDS last night. two guys who cant move the puck and one who can't defend either.

 

[ReddestRum]

I'm hoping the same people that see "improvement" in Laf admit there's even better improvement in the rest of the kids. Laf goes from 31 points to 39 season to season and people see nothing but improvement. However, Kakko went from 18 points to 40 points. Fil went from 22 to 45 (and Laf will be the same age as KK in a few weeks). Even Miller went from 20 points to 43 points, season to season.

 

[SA16]

I wonder if Senators might have interest in Lafréniere


Something around Lafréniere ++ for Pinto

So the Senators, who have so little cap space that they can only offer Pinto 1M, are somehow able to make a trade for someone who makes 2.3M?

 

[NickyFotiu]

.

 

[TheGortonConspiracy]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but Lafreniere made his IG account private today

Kid is definitely not having a good time. I am going to give him 20 games, no idea how you guys are all eager to trade him at 21 years old when he scored 40 points last year.

 

[RangersFan1994]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but Lafreniere made his IG account private today

Kid is definitely not having a good time. I am going to give him 20 games, no idea how you guys are all eager to trade him at 21 years old when he scored 40 points last year.

He should take his offseason conditioning a bit more seriously. He is lazy with awful work ethic that relies on whatever skills made him 1st overall. He peaked in juniors

 

[smoneil]

I'm hoping the same people that see "improvement" in Laf admit there's even better improvement in the rest of the kids. Laf goes from 31 points to 39 season to season and people see nothing but improvement. However, Kakko went from 18 points to 40 points. Fil went from 22 to 45 (and Laf will be the same age as KK in a few weeks). Even Miller went from 20 points to 43 points, season to season.

Kakko's 18 to 40 was from a 43 game season to an 82 game season. It was also his 21 year old season to 22 year old season.

Chytil's 22 to 45 was from a 67 game season to a 74 game season, and was from his D+5 to D+6 seasons (22 year old season to 23 year old season).

Miller's 20 to 43 was his 21/22 year old season (20 points) to his 22/23 year old season (43 points).

Laf is 21/22 years old this upcoming season. Last year, he was 20/21.

The players you mentioned, in their 20/21 year old seasons?

-Kakko: 43 games, 7 goals, and 11 assists. .42 ppg.
-Chytil: 42 games, 8 goals, and 14 assists. .52 ppg.
-K'AM: 53 games, 5 goals, and 7 assists. .23 ppg.
-Laf: 81 games, 16 goals, and 23 assists. .48 ppg

But looking at the context rather than giving Laf the same time as the other kids doesn't fit your narrative, does it?

 

[Mandar]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but Lafreniere made his IG account private today

Kid is definitely not having a good time. I am going to give him 20 games, no idea how you guys are all eager to trade him at 21 years old when he scored 40 points last year.

You know, that’s fine production for a third liner….and I have no qualms with him being a decent 3rd line player. The issue might be that some have expectations of him being more than that based on his draft position ….and unfortunately he hasn’t shown any real semblance of a top 6 forward.

 

[LokiDog]

Kakko's 18 to 40 was from a 43 game season to an 82 game season. It was also his 21 year old season to 22 year old season.

Chytil's 22 to 45 was from a 67 game season to a 74 game season, and was from his D+5 to D+6 seasons (22 year old season to 23 year old season).

Miller's 20 to 43 was his 21/22 year old season (20 points) to his 22/23 year old season (43 points).

Laf is 21/22 years old this upcoming season. Last year, he was 20/21.

The players you mentioned, in their 20/21 year old seasons?

-Kakko: 43 games, 7 goals, and 11 assists. .42 ppg.
-Chytil: 42 games, 8 goals, and 14 assists. .52 ppg.
-K'AM: 53 games, 5 goals, and 7 assists. .23 ppg.
-Laf: 81 games, 16 goals, and 23 assists. .48 ppg

But looking at the context rather than giving Laf the same time as the other kids doesn't fit your narrative, does it?

I don’t want to speak for other fans, but I just think it comes down to the other three looking good/promising during that time (regardless of stats) and one looking like they suck the entire time (regardless of stats). Laf just doesn’t look like he had ANY attribute to get excited about.

Chytil has speed and a shot.

Kakko has the cycle/possession game.

Miller has the size and skating.

Laf has a beard and a draft position

 

[NickyFotiu]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but Lafreniere made his IG account private today

Kid is definitely not having a good time. I am going to give him 20 games, no idea how you guys are all eager to trade him at 21 years old when he scored 40 points last year.

I don't follow him on social media. I would never say anything bad to him. I don't want him feeling bad. We want him to succeed.

 

[CasusBelli]

The things that make Laf hard to root for after 3 years of disappointment and still not coming to camp motivated:


“Hey Laf, why did you coast on that Pageau goal?”

View attachment 748033

Not the game.

Not the game.

PRACTICE.

Too bad 13 tries neither in game nor in practice.

 

[smoneil]

I don’t want to speak for other fans, but I just think it comes down to the other three looking good/promising during that time (regardless of stats) and one looking like they suck the entire time (regardless of stats). Laf just doesn’t look like he had ANY attribute to get excited about.

Chytil has speed and a shot.

Kakko has the cycle/possession game.

Miller has the size and skating.

Laf has a beard and a draft position

I get that, but would counter in 3 ways:

1- I would argue that Laf has displayed both shooting and passing ability. The issue is more that he won't use them, deferring to the perceived safe play every time.

2- The poster I was replying to was listing stat jumps as a justification for his agenda. So my post was primarily to point out how that poster was ignoring context in his statistical claim to suit an existing bias (I've never had an issue with any of the kids, and I was one of the first ones on here defending Chytil when 90+% of these boards wanted to trade him for a salmonella-laced ham sandwich).

3- As I mentioned in an earlier post (and something that helps to explain point 1), Laf has been developed as a support player. He spent a year with Quinn telling him not to try ANYTHING remotely risky. He then spent two years with GG yanking him all over the lineup. Elite draft picks get fed minutes not because they deserve them, but because they have demonstrated an ability to be THE guy that can go out and win the game for your team. By developing him as 3rd line support, the Rangers have squashed that instinct. It isn't going to come back in two pre-season games, particularly not while he's trying to figure out how to play his off wing AND learning how to play for his 3rd coach in 4 years. I'm not saying he's EVER going to get that killer/creative instinct back. It's not the kind of thing most teams choose to f*** around with. But if they CAN get him to have that level of confidence in himself again, it will be huge. Fixing what the team screwed up in his development isn't something that can be fixed overnight though.

 

[GENESISPuck94]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this but Lafreniere made his IG account private today

Kid is definitely not having a good time. I am going to give him 20 games, no idea how you guys are all eager to trade him at 21 years old when he scored 40 points last year.

Despicable people will be despicable and ruin people's lives because it makes them feel better about themselves somehow.

 

[Irishguy42]

Despicable people will be despicable and ruin people's lives because it makes them feel better about themselves somehow.

Social media was a mistake

 

[ReddestRum]

Kakko's 18 to 40 was from a 43 game season to an 82 game season. It was also his 21 year old season to 22 year old season.

Chytil's 22 to 45 was from a 67 game season to a 74 game season, and was from his D+5 to D+6 seasons (22 year old season to 23 year old season).

Miller's 20 to 43 was his 21/22 year old season (20 points) to his 22/23 year old season (43 points).

Laf is 21/22 years old this upcoming season. Last year, he was 20/21.

The players you mentioned, in their 20/21 year old seasons?

-Kakko: 43 games, 7 goals, and 11 assists. .42 ppg.
-Chytil: 42 games, 8 goals, and 14 assists. .52 ppg.
-K'AM: 53 games, 5 goals, and 7 assists. .23 ppg.
-Laf: 81 games, 16 goals, and 23 assists. .48 ppg

But looking at the context rather than giving Laf the same time as the other kids doesn't fit your narrative, does it?

My narrative is that he continues to be a struggling 1OA who has 200+ games in his NHL career and the kids around him, no matter their f***ing age, continue to show improvement with something as small as the eye test in how they play. Improvement isn't dependent on age. Laf hasn't passed the improvement eye test since he started playing in the NHL. His play remains the same throughout. Points aren't everything obviously, but when you've looked mid throughout your career when even industry experts are wondering when you're going to improve, what else can you be judged on?