Player Discussion Alexis Lafreniere

[NickyFotiu]

This thread is embarrasing.

Try rooting for our team instead of ripping the kid apart.

And the overreaction by some is incredible. At the end of the day at worst he is still a middle six forward.


Yes not what we wanted, but not useless or isnt an nhl.

What an embarrassment this thread has become.

I 100% root for Laf.

I 100% want Laf to succeed and become an elite player.

I'm still concerned about his play since the 2021-22 playoffs.

 

[LokiDog]

Metaphysically and philosophically speaking, if we agree that thoughts and feelings originate in the brain, which is in the head, located on the upper body, than we can logically conclude that a bruised ego would indeed be considered an “upper body injury”.

I’d say it’s as solid an inference as suggesting the team actively wanted and TOLD Lafreniere to be a grinder and NOT an offensive talent, at least.

 

[TGWL]

Metaphysically and philosophically speaking, if we agree that thoughts and feelings originate in the brain, which is in the head, located on the upper body, than we can logically conclude that a bruised ego would indeed be considered an “upper body injury”.

I’d say it’s as solid an inference as suggesting the team actively wanted and TOLD Lafreniere to be a grinder and NOT an offensive talent, at least.

Lafreniere sits on the bench with a spreadsheet. He adds a check for every hit and every post scrum. He then has to show the coach before the 3rd period. If the spreadsheet total is too low he's benched.

 

[LokiDog]

Lafreniere sits on the bench with a spreadsheet. He adds a check for every hit and every post scrum. He then has to show the coach before the 3rd period. If the spreadsheet total is too low he's benched.

See, this I believe. All these narratives about the coaches - three of them - telling Laf to absolutely NOT play with any semblance of skill or confidence, and just dump it and be a grinder… those are tougher to swallow.

 

[bhamill]

Lafreniere sits on the bench with a spreadsheet. He adds a check for every hit and every post scrum. He then has to show the coach before the 3rd period. If the spreadsheet total is too low he's benched.

Ahahahaha

 

[Shesterkybomb]

Lias? Lias was compared to Jesper Fast at the draft. Nobody I knew was excited about him being drafted. My dad even asked is it just me or does the second guy (Chytil) look like he has a much better chance to be a good pick?

Lias was touted as NHL ready, the captain of team Sweden. He was one of the best players at the world juniors. He was picked higher than he should have been but he was still a top 15 pick.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Lias was touted as NHL ready, the captain of team Sweden. He was one of the best players at the world juniors. He was picked higher than he should have been but he was still a top 15 pick.

World juniors means absolutely nothing when it comes to the NHL. Lias was touted as Jesper Fast on draft night. He was just waived by his 3rd team.

 

[Mandar]

Hypothetical question:

let’s say the Rangers surprised the entire hockey community and drafted Byfield or someone else 1OA. I think it’s not any kind of speculation that Laf goes next to the LAK.

How does Laf do in LA, in comparison to how he has done here?

 

[ReddestRum]

World juniors means absolutely nothing when it comes to the NHL. Lias was touted as Jesper Fast on draft night. He was just waived by his 3rd team.

Fans watch through a different lens than scouts, who watch through a different lens than management personnel. While many fans are focused on the best players or their favorite team, scouts are primarily focused on draft-eligible players. It is used as a measuring-stick type of tournament, as are the world under-18s. How a player fares in international competition is likely to impact their draft stock. If I had a dollar for every time I heard some iteration of “But, Player X was no good at this tournament,” or “Player Y dominated and surprised me” as an argument for changing a team's draft list around, I’d have a fair chunk of change. But that’s a different article for a different day, probably around the U-18s.

https://thehockeynews.com/news/how-nhl-teams-evaluate-their-prospects-at-the-world-juniors

 

[FoxysExpensiveNYDigs]

The hot takes on the trade board regarding Laf are so moronic. Some genius now saying teams will just wait until he gets waived and claim him.

 

[Raspewtin]

The hot takes on the trade board regarding Laf are so moronic. Some genius now saying teams will just wait until he gets waived and claim him.

every bit of shit talk about him, he deserves, even if it's hyperbolic.

trending to be the most disappointing player in modern draft history.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Likely the same just like other players do when traded.

 

[Matt Rentfree]

Hypothetical question:

let’s say the Rangers surprised the entire hockey community and drafted Byfield or someone else 1OA. I think it’s not any kind of speculation that Laf goes next to the LAK.

How does Laf do in LA, in comparison to how he has done here?

Kings fans are griping just as much as us about dodgy player development, so I'm guessing probably about the same.

 

[FoxysExpensiveNYDigs]

every bit of shit talk about him, he deserves, even if it's hyperbolic.

trending to be the most disappointing player in modern draft history.

He's no Patrik Stefan. Hell Nucks fans are saying Podkolzin is better despite much poorer production. Its jumped the shark at this point.

 

[Raspewtin]

He's no Patrik Stefan. Hell Nucks fans are saying Podkolzin is better despite much poorer production. Its jumped the shark at this point.

patrik stefan (and yakupov for that matter) were taken in arguably the two worst drafts in the modern era and still produced era adjusted similar to Laf.

all i'm saying is that if this was an isles or devils pick we would be just as ruthless. hell it could be a buffalo or edmonton pick and we would.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

Hypothetical question:

let’s say the Rangers surprised the entire hockey community and drafted Byfield or someone else 1OA. I think it’s not any kind of speculation that Laf goes next to the LAK.

How does Laf do in LA, in comparison to how he has done here?

good question.

based on the last 2 seasons what line do you put him in? their version of a kid line - a rotating 4th line with kupari, kaiyev, grundstrom and dolan? i could not see him cracking any of the top 3 lines.

 

[Profet]

The hot takes on the trade board regarding Laf are so moronic. Some genius now saying teams will just wait until he gets waived and claim him.

Would you give up significant assets for Laf? I wouldn't. That's why I want him gone, im still hopeful some GM out there is fooled by his draft pedigree.

 

[ReddestRum]

patrik stefan (and yakupov for that matter) were taken in arguably the two worst drafts in the modern era and still produced era adjusted similar to Laf.

all i'm saying is that if this was an isles or devils pick we would be just as ruthless. hell it could be a buffalo or edmonton pick and we would.

I'm in agreement here. If Laf was on any other team the same people defending him here would be tearing him apart if he were elsewhere. I get team loyalty, but gatdamn.

You've also got guys that will talk shit about a player like Zegras and Stutz being too flashy. I even remember in that conversation people saying they'd rather have a player like Laf with less "flash" than an actual rising star in Stutz.

Then, of course, there's shit talking about Byfield. Dude is younger than Laf and has a more difficult road in his development in being an NHL center. The conservation revolved around him being an AHL player at best and here I am wishing that went sent Laf (and Kakko to an extent) down to the AHL first to build their confidence.

100% if Laf was a 1OA on another team with the production he's given us then this board would be stomping all over him.

 

[Profet]

Hypothetical question:

let’s say the Rangers surprised the entire hockey community and drafted Byfield or someone else 1OA. I think it’s not any kind of speculation that Laf goes next to the LAK.

How does Laf do in LA, in comparison to how he has done here?

The same?

His lack of skills are his lack of skills.

I understand that the Rangers have been absolute crap at developing forwards. I get it.
But this isn't that.

Kravtsov, Kakko, you still see the talent. They have had other issues stopping them.

Laf just doesn't have top 6 talent. The scouts were wrong.

 

[CLW]

Ok. So maybe Laffy had the sniffles.

Or maybe the coaches nailed his butt to a coach and went through the X and O's with him step by step on the big screen while the others skated.

Or maybe it was something else.

 

[Profet]

Ok. So maybe Laffy had the sniffles.

Or maybe the coaches nailed his butt to a coach and went through the X and O's step by step with him while the others skated.

Or maybe it was something else.

Or maybe he was sore. Look, I shit on him all the time, but an injury is an injury. Or at least the new medical staff is being very cautious with everyone.

I just don't want to confuse us joking about him with the very real and very concerning issues with his complete lack of progress/talent/motor.

 

[ReddestRum]

Or maybe he was sore. Look, I shit on him all the time, but an injury is an injury. Or at least the new medical staff is being very cautious with everyone.

I just don't want to confuse us joking about him with the very real and very concerning issues with his complete lack of progress/talent/motor.

Yup. No need to f*** yourself up before the season even starts.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Our biggest crime is timing.

Look at the Lias draft (2017). There really were not a bunch of guys drafted #8-#31 that turned out great. Look at the Krav draft (2018) again there were not a lot of guys drafted #11-#31 that turned out great. Look at the KK draft (2019) again. How many guys drafted #3-#31 turned out great? Then we come to the Laf draft (2020). Outside of Tim (and maybe Raymond) is there anyone people would have been happy about drafting #1?

We just pick the wrong years to have good draft picks lol.

 

[Synergy27]

Our biggest crime is timing.

Look at the Lias draft (2017). There really were not a bunch of guys drafted #8-#31 that turned out great. Look at the Krav draft (2018) again there were not a lot of guys drafted #11-#31 that turned out great. Look at the KK draft (2019) again. How many guys drafted #3-#31 turned out great? Then we come to the Laf draft (2020). Outside of Tim (and maybe Raymond) is there anyone people would have been happy about drafting #1?

We just pick the wrong years to have good draft picks lol.

Where does Key go in a 2018 redraft? 5 or 6 for me.

We had three picks available and got 1 of the 2 good players left in the first round. Would have been nice to get two of them but that has to be viewed as a success.

 

[EdJovanovski]

patrik stefan (and yakupov for that matter) were taken in arguably the two worst drafts in the modern era and still produced era adjusted similar to Laf.

all i'm saying is that if this was an isles or devils pick we would be just as ruthless. hell it could be a buffalo or edmonton pick and we would.

Even worse than you think, Yakupov outscored Lafreniere by 11% through their first 216 games, in an era that had 16% lower scoring. People aren’t alarmed enough. He is significantly worse than Yakupov.