The jury is officially in: Alexis Lafreniere is a complete bust

[Misery74]

NYR hired the worst possible coach for this situation. Get ready for some ugliness.

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Lafreniere is a NHL player but he's 100% a bust for where he was drafted and where his expectations were at.

He's a bland guy who doesn't do anything particularly well. Okay 3rd line guy but you don't want an okay 3rd line guy with the #1 pick.

Talk about understatements...

I also can't square 'Bonafide NHL Player' with 'Okay 3rd line guy who doesn't do anything well'

Unless he magically gets significantly better or changes his game, I'm not sold on him sticking around in the league for years to come even in reduced role.

 

[Hisch13r]

He never shows anything

 

[Brookbank]

Big market teams jumping up in the lottery to nab great players just to ruin them.

A tale as old as time.

You cant be serious. This is about raw talent and ability and Lafreneir doesn't have it.

I was hoping for him. No team (except Chicago and Boston) deserves a 1 oa bust. That is just terrible. But if I had to put money on it, I think he's out of the NHL faster than Yakupov.

 

[Auston Escobar]

Then it’s hard to call him a bust. An impressive disappointment? Sure. Not really a bust. It’s like Daigle, he actually put up pretty good points for his age, he just wasn’t the superstar he was supposed to be. He’s not really a bust at all. Laf being a middle six player for years isn’t a bust in my eyes either.

To me a bust barely or never makes the level at all. If someone carved out a career it’s a just a disappointment.

By this definition, there are no first overall draft busts. Teams are going to play their guy no matter what to avoid the absolute fiasco getting nothing from that pick would be.

Just search “first overall draft busts” and across all of North American pro sports, the players listed are just “disappointments.”

 

[Brookbank]

What is his value now ? Seriously I think the highest bid would be a late 2nd or 3rd rounder. Or another struggling asset. I was high on the Canucks getting him but now I don't want him. He would be another Bouvillier.

What was Yakupovs trade again. Yak had offensive upside. Laf doesn't.

 

[Bankers Box]

The likelihood of all the major scouting services being this wrong on a #1 and #2 in the same draft year is extraordinarily unlikely.

Both Lafreniere and Byfield were clearly mishandled by two teams trying to have their cake and eat it, too. Both the Rangers and Kings went through a truncated rebuild-not-rebuild and quickly pivoted to bringing in prime players to compete now. They left their bluechip youth stranded in depth roles that didn’t suit their draft pedigree and didn’t foster quality development at the NHL level.

Contrast that with teams like the Devils or Senators who just accepted they would suck for X amount of years, but in the meantime placed their bluechip youth in positions to take ownership of the team.

Obviously it’s more complex and nuanced than that in totality, and yes, perhaps neither Laf nor Byfield were quite as good as the scouting reports claimed. But both of these prospects were clearly mismanaged by bad GMs who were much more interested in making the playoffs than fostering bluechip development at the NHL level.

Sorry, but this is just nonsense.

Talent always shines through, no matter how their team manages their usages.

Blaming Rangers or Kings management for Laf and Byfield’s mediocre careers thus far is nonsense.

Why do some sports fans always blame their management when players fail to live up to their potential? Does it make you feel better?

Team management can affect a players development to an extent but they don’t turn stars to 3rd liners or 3rd liners into stars.

 

[Crease]

NYR hired the worst possible coach for this situation. Get ready for some ugliness.

Lavi started Kakko at 1RW and moved Laf from LW to RW to get him into the top six as well. Lavi is giving them a full opportunity here.

 

[Wateredgarden]

What is his value now ? Seriously I think the highest bid would be a late 2nd or 3rd rounder. Or another struggling asset. I was high on the Canucks getting him but now I don't want him. He would be another Bouvillier.

What was Yakupovs trade again. Yak had offensive upside. Laf doesn't.

An ECHL level player and a 3rd rounder.

 

[2014nyr]

can't be a bust if people are still following your every move so....

 

[Sean Garrity]

Sorry, but this is just nonsense.

Talent always shines through, no matter how their team manages their usages.

Blaming Rangers or Kings management for Laf and Byfield’s mediocre careers thus far is nonsense.

Why do some sports fans always blame their management when players fail to live up to their potential? Does it make you feel better?

Team management can affect a players development to an extent but they don’t turn stars to 3rd liners or 3rd liners into stars.

I mean you can blame them for drafting those players in those spots, but I agree overall.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Sorry, but this is just nonsense.

Talent always shines through, no matter how their team manages their usages.

Blaming Rangers or Kings management for Laf and Byfield’s mediocre careers thus far is nonsense.

Why do some sports fans always blame their management when players fail to live up to their potential? Does it make you feel better?

Team management can affect a players development to an extent but they don’t turn stars to 3rd liners or 3rd liners into stars.

Idk Ralph Krueger had lots of people convinced Skinner fell off a cliff for no reason in his mid-20s and Dahlin was busting

 

[Hisch13r]

I think slaf surpasses him as the biggest bust especially if we are cutting it off at 22 years old

Slaf should be better. They both might end kind of sucking offensively but Slaf will do much more overall. Slaf will be more Kakko

 

[Lua]

laf just finished a tap in goal created by another player

*spikes football*

the kids are alright

 

[Sensatauro]

Still willing to offer Mathieu Joseph for Laf. Joseph is out producing him right now even. I mean lafs a bust, might as well get a better fit forward for your team right!

Rumors of bustness confirmed exaggerated

 

[PlushMinus]

Lavi started Kakko at 1RW and moved Laf from LW to RW to get him into the top six as well. Lavi is giving them a full opportunity here.

He'll correct me if I'm wrong, but what the other poster meant is that Lavi will give the young players opportunities but they will likely be on a short leash and will lose those top 6 spots if the results don't come quickly. And they won't be able to win those spots back.

Spent 2+ seasons watching him do this when he was coaching the Capitals, and I'm pretty sure Preds fans will say the same thing.

 

[Machinehead]

NYR hired the worst possible coach for this situation. Get ready for some ugliness.

We're playing great.

The Rangers low-key have an ugly, slow roster with limited skill. Laviolette's structure has been refreshing.

They're no longer trying to play Ferrari hockey with a Honda roster.

I think it's been good for the young players too. It's been good for everyone so far.

 

[93LEAFS]

I think complete bust is overstated. I do think it the right situation he can become a player. I was a pretty big doubter of him during his draft year relative to hype. I do think he could be a very solid 3rd wheel on a top line, whereas many expected him to be an elite line driver and he simply appears to lack the skill set for that. He's good at alot, but not great at much or anything.

 

[LOFIN]

Sorry, but this is just nonsense.

Talent always shines through, no matter how their team manages their usages.

Blaming Rangers or Kings management for Laf and Byfield’s mediocre careers thus far is nonsense.

Why do some sports fans always blame their management when players fail to live up to their potential? Does it make you feel better?

Team management can affect a players development to an extent but they don’t turn stars to 3rd liners or 3rd liners into stars.

It's not all on management, sure. But this idea that you either hit or miss on a draft, and the player has a fate set in stone when he's 18 years old and he cannot be developed (or mishandled) is absurd.

Maybe Kakko, Byfield and Lafreniere never become stars, no matter who drafts them. But I think they could be better than what they are now, because of the way they were handled by their clubs.

 

[kilowatt]

To add insult to injury, Alex Laferriere scored his first goal for the Kings tonight. At the draft, there were a lot of "we have Lafreniere at home" jokes, but Laferriere has played really well for a rookie this season and is firmly planted alongside Dubois on Fiala on LA's top line.

The counterpoint here is that if we're talking strictly on a points per game basis, Lafreniere has actually performed at a higher level than Byfield, so the first and second picks of the 2020 draft haven't done too well. Time will tell I guess.

 

[SeanAveryTheGreatOne]

He is far from that bad. To be honest he is better than at least half the league.

Are you talking about the AHL or something when you refer to half the league?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The bust is playing well this season. Had another great game today.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

A bust? he would be perfect in Montreal!

 

[QJL]

Competent middle 6 player. Not a bust. Still disappointing.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

He could be on his season #15 and people still say that we can't be too quick to judge.

Maybe we know already. He is not what he was projected to be, and never will be.