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

[Leafs87]

When as the last time the first 2 picks were busts. Byfield isn’t useful either.

The unfortunate part for Rangers/Kings is that the rest of the top 10 had some very good players available.

 

[Bobby9]

I watched the Rags/Oilers game tonight just so I could watch the Oilers lose. While he may not be a superstar he looked pretty good to me.

Has to be encouraging for many NYR fans.

 

[Gardner McKay]

I watched the Rags/Oilers game tonight just so I could watch the Oilers lose. While he may not be a superstar he looked pretty good to me.

Has to be encouraging for many NYR fans.

This is it.

The "Laf is a bust" posts are obscene overreactions. I can say for sure I NEVER had one of those posts

He isn't going to be a McDavid, Crosby, Mackinnon, Hughes or Matthews.

Will he be a solid 30/30 guy with 1-2 years of 40 goals? I think so.

 

[Toby91ca]

Yes, we needed those 4 games to make it official....now that we have the 4 games....it's official!

He's still only 22 and will likely be a pretty good NHL player....perhaps a lot of people's expectations were too high....mine certainly weren't that high. He's probably dragging his feet a bit from what I though he'd be, but still early in his career, some take longer to develop at the NHL level.

Why is no one talking about Byfield drafted at #2 the same year?

 

[haveandare]

 

[Cuckoo4Kakko]

Where have the Islanders and Devils fans gone? You were all so happy last week. Maybe he will struggle next week and you can come back to the thread.

 

[kylek023]

Can someone make a thread about Tyler Myers please?

 

[Cuckoo4Kakko]

he's shooting 40% and still only on pace for 46 points this year

good for him for scoring a few goals but maybe hold off on the celebrations for a bit

Can we agree the 40% shooting won't continue but also the 0 assists while setting up great chances for Panarin and Chytl won't continue either? Or does that ruin your narrative?

 

[Russian_fanatic]

Is he roaring back?

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Can we agree the 40% shooting won't continue but also the 0 assists while setting up great chances for Panarin and Chytl won't continue either? Or does that ruin your narrative?

For a guy who never has any assists, I thought he made some really nice passes the last few games

 

[Jersey Fresh]

Where have the Islanders and Devils fans gone? You were all so happy last week. Maybe he will struggle next week and you can come back to the thread.

You’re acting like that hasn’t been the cadence both ways from day one (and among your own fans on your board). He has twenty games of playing like trash, everyone talks about it. Then, he has a PPG stretch for six or seven games and Rangers fans filter in with the “I-told-you-sos”. Rinse and repeat.

You’re even participating in it in real time.

 

[JoVel]

Where have the Islanders and Devils fans gone? You were all so happy last week. Maybe he will struggle next week and you can come back to the thread.

It takes some balls to call everyone out like this after 2 or 3 good games after struggling for three years straight. Gotta respect it.

 

[Cuckoo4Kakko]

It takes some balls to call everyone out like this after 2 or 3 good games after struggling for three years straight. Gotta respect it.

I call out Rangers fans for this nonsense too so you are correct. I'll call everyone out. If I cared about Mercer, i'd go on that thread and say how stupid that is too. Laf is young and he doesn't get PP1 time. He's on the best line of the best team in the metro at the moment. Calm down and let it all play out. This stuff is pathetic.

 

[dahrougem2]

Man, that move on Broberg at the blue line was just disrespectful lol. If only he finished.

 

[Lavar Ball]

I want Laf to be good so bad. Record number of people will be eating their words

 

[Kocur Dill]

Joe Thornton scored 71 points in his 4th season. Laf is now in his 4th season, do you think he's scoring 70 points this year?

He's a 40pt player with 3rd line minutes 5v5.

If he got regular PP time over a full season does he become a 60pt player?

Those are different optics under different circumstances and a valid argument.

NYR ain't benching Panarin and Kreider for Laff that's for sure.

 

[pokey10]

Goodness, I had no clue the guy fell off that bad from 22'. As a Pen's fan I cant say I catch many Ranger games outside head to heads. But I remember him being quite the force in the Playoff's in 22'. Is the sample size just too small? Jordan Staal had a fantastic rookie year and then the following seasons came back to earth a bit ( albeit, his role was 3C ). As Jordan moved on to CAR he seemed to show some more of an offensive prowess. Took him a bit. Maybe Laff is on a parallel trajectory?

Edit: I also understand its apples to oranges with positions; I was just trying to quickly think of a comparable for development.

 

[Holocene]

he just looks so much more confident out there and looks like his skating has improved. he’s never gonna be a burner like mcdavid but he no longer looks lazy while skating. he’s had some really nifty passes to chytil who cannot buy a goal right now

 

[TGWL]

He's on pace for 47 goals this season. Round that up, and you have a 50 goal-scorer.

50 goals in only his 4th season in the league.

Crosby took 5 years to reach 50 goals a season. McDavid, 8 years. Matthews, 6 years.

Lafreniere >>> Crosby/McDavid/Matthews is still possible.

Dial it down there, buddy.

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Maybe he isn’t burning down villages, but he is at least stoking fires under isolated abandoned buildings on the perimeter of said village now. We shall see what the year brings

 

[hotcabbagesoup]

Maybe he isn’t burning down villages, but he is at least stoking fires under isolated abandoned buildings on the perimeter of said village now. We shall see what the year brings

I say we arrest him for arson. Keep him from continuing. The jury is already in that he's a complete bust, so let's bust him-!!!

Go Islanders!!!

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

he's shooting 40% and still only on pace for 46 points this year

good for him for scoring a few goals but maybe hold off on the celebrations for a bit

Someone ain’t watching the games.

 

[Garbageyuk]

Someone ain’t watching the games.

You guys say the same shit every year. He’ll score a few goals and then you all start trying to gloat prematurely. And then he goes on a 30-40 game cold streak to end the year and it’s crickets from the same people. The dude sucks, and we’ve all watched the games.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Goodness, I had no clue the guy fell off that bad from 22'. As a Pen's fan I cant say I catch many Ranger games outside head to heads. But I remember him being quite the force in the Playoff's in 22'. Is the sample size just too small? Jordan Staal had a fantastic rookie year and then the following seasons came back to earth a bit ( albeit, his role was 3C ). As Jordan moved on to CAR he seemed to show some more of an offensive prowess. Took him a bit. Maybe Laff is on a parallel trajectory?

Edit: I also understand its apples to oranges with positions; I was just trying to quickly think of a comparable for development.

He didn’t. He just had a bad playoffs in 2023, where virtually the whole team did. And his advanced stats weren’t the greatest last season, despite a decent season. You know what that does for some on this website.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

You guys say the same shit every year. He’ll score a few goals and then you all start trying to gloat prematurely. And then he goes on a 30-40 game cold streak to end the year and it’s crickets from the same people. The dude sucks, and we’ve all watched the games.

He’s scored more and gotten better each season of his career.

He doesn’t play on a garbage team that doesn’t need to win where he’s been handed unlimited minutes and great situations.