More Points this Season: Kakko or Lafreniere

[EdJovanovski]

Who do you think gets more points this season?

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[jay from jersey]

Depends. I’d wager 1 of them is going to get 1st unit PP time eventually this season. Prob LaF.
But if kakko stays with Panarin and Strome I’d expect a lot of secondary assists as well. Tough to call, but I’d go with LaF

 

[pld459666]

Think Lafreniere is the better player and thats going to reflect well this year.

 

[will1066]

Laf is a year behind Player Big P in development, and it's kind of shown. Nothing wrong with that. I think Laf will need this year to continue putting it together.

 

[Fitzy]

I think Laf has the higher offensive upside, but if Kakko sticks on the Panarin line all season it’s hard to envision him ending up with fewer points.

 

[Barnaby]

I think if either gets significantly more PP time then that’s the guy.

I think Lafreniere has the higher ceiling but Kakko is a year ahead so feels like a wash.

 

[GoAwayPanarin]

Laf.

People are obsessing over the pre season. He was the better of the 2 down the stretch last year. Both will take a step forward.

 

[Peltz]

Kakko. Not to take anything away from Laf, I just think Kakko is closer to hitting his stride as a player. Laf is still figuring some stuff out.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

I think they will both be between 50-60, but Laf has a better chance at the higher number

Provided they stick with the lines they are currently on, its not a stretch they can both be around 0.7 Point per game players.

Laf ended the final 25 games of the season that way last year which would put him at around 52-58.

We've obviously seen more from Kakko thus far to believe he could score around the same clip or slightly lower.

The difference will be where the goals are coming from. Laf can beat goalies with his wrister. Little more of an ask for Kakko. His will come in closer to the net as we've seen this preseason. Both could benefit from Panarin & Zibanejad and Strome & Kreider (if he stays up there).

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

I think Kakko is going to hit bigtime with Panarin. Small sample this preseason, but I've liked what I've seen. Have not seen the same growth out of Laffy yet. It will come but I think Kakko hits first.

 

[EdJovanovski]

I think Kakko is going to hit bigtime with Panarin. Small sample this preseason, but I've liked what I've seen. Have not seen the same growth out of Laffy yet. It will come but I think Kakko hits first.

People say Laffy has had a somewhat weak camp (even though he has produced just fine) but I’ve noticed two big improvements in his game so far.
1) he looks a lot more physical, he’s been hitting people including that huge reverse hit a couple games ago. He was an Ovi-like wrecking ball in junior so it’s nice to see that aggression come out more.
2) he looks faster, he dropped a bit of weight over the summer and he does skate more explosively now. So does Kakko

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

People say Laffy has had a somewhat weak camp (even though he has produced just fine) but I’ve noticed two big improvements in his game so far.
1) he looks a lot more physical, he’s been hitting people including that huge reverse hit a couple games ago. He was an Ovi-like wrecking ball in junior so it’s nice to see that aggression come out more.
2) he looks faster, he dropped a bit of weight over the summer and he does skate more explosively now. So does Kakko

I agree that he's looked a little more physical in camp. I think when I say I'm looking for him to take that next step, the biggest piece for me is that I would love to see some obvious signs of his incredible vision. I know he'll get there, but he was so good creating offense in Junior, we haven't seen him do that at this level to that degree. He'll get there, I'm not worried about him, but I am not sure he gets there at least to start the year.

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

People say Laffy has had a somewhat weak camp (even though he has produced just fine) but I’ve noticed two big improvements in his game so far.
1) he looks a lot more physical, he’s been hitting people including that huge reverse hit a couple games ago. He was an Ovi-like wrecking ball in junior so it’s nice to see that aggression come out more.
2) he looks faster, he dropped a bit of weight over the summer and he does skate more explosively now. So does Kakko

I agree.

It may take Laffy a few more games to get going but I think he will hit his stride sooner or later. He hasnt had the puck on his stick too much in games for whatever reason, he did however in the scrimmage clips we were lucky enough to see from camp.

I still think he will have a "break out" year - how to define that exactly is subjective. If he just plays consistently like he did at the end of last year he will have no problem getting 50+

I wanted to see more pace in his game. I have seen it, generally speaking, so thats a good improvement.

 

[Narcissus]

Kakko by 10-15 points. Still have huge expectations for both during the next 5 years. Who knows which one will be better then.

LaFreniere still doesn’t understand where he needs to go on the ice to receive the puck with speed. He has a tendency to float after we gain control of the puck in the defensive zone. It looks like he’s used to junior teammates dumping him the puck whenever they gained possession.

It’s almost as if missing a year of development could have a negative impact a young player.

 

[RagFinMet]

I say laf but kak will be the better player
Laf is still invisible for many of his shifts but then out of nowhere the puck finds his stick and he puts it in.
Rarely looks pretty
Kak will be the "Fast" on the pan line.
His first responsibility will be to play D
and fish out pucks
I see laf at 20-27
Kak at 15-29

 

[mas0764]

I see laf at 20-27
Kak at 15-29

.... total points?

 

[NYSPORTS]

I like it’s almost 50/50.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Laf once he replaces Strome on PP1 will rack em up

 

[Killem Dafoe]

Both hit 50+ points this year.

 

[duhmetreE]

I think Laf separates himself and starts approaching the Panarin and Fox tier

 

[Harbour Dog]

I think if it was 'has the best season', I'd lean toward Kakko.

But for most points, I'll take Lafreniere. He has a lethal wrister, one of the best backhands in the league, and the vision of a bird of prey.

 

[EdJovanovski]

Kravtsov obviously gets more points than either

 

[Machinehead]

Kakko takes the early lead but Lafreniere catches him imo

We have to remember that Lafreniere is a full draft year behind Kakko and you can see the difference right now

 

[behemolari]

Kakko is special, it will start shown soon