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

[GoAwayPanarin]

Usually Panarin fades after October so I'm assuming he pulls down Laf eventually.

Panarin's career splits by Month -

October: 27-65-92 in 81 GP (1.13 ppg)
November: 31-67-98 in 99 GP (0.99 ppg)
December: 39-76-115 in 96 GP (1.20 ppg)
January: 32-55-87 in 88 GP(.986 ppg)
February 32-66-98 in 83 GP (1.18 ppg)
March 36-86-122 in 108 GP (1.13 ppg)
April 26-47-73 in 48 GP (1.52 ppg)

I guess technically he does fade after October since November is worse?

 

[wetcoast]

People in the off-season (and for over 1-2 years now) were acting like he's a bust already, and has 0 trade value or close.

To me - he can absolutely still break out and be a star. He's entering his 4th season now - for comparison, MacKinnon didn't break out as a top star until his 5th season. Draisaitl - also 5th season. EP - top of league for points so far this season - also really broke out in his 5th year last year.

I predicted Laf would hit 80 this year - we'll see if he reaches that high or not, but my overall point is it's still too early to give up on him.



I hear Panarin was especially instrumental in that shootout winner last night...

Sure Laf might one day be a PPG player but he will never have the career arc or superstar status or Mack or Drai he might be an okay complimentary scoring winger who is good for 60ish points and maybe a little higher in perfect storm years but time will tell.

 

[AfroThunder396]

I don't think he's a bust, to me a bust is a guy that scrubs out of the league and doesn't have an NHL career. Patrik Stefan, Nail Yakupov, Cam Barker, Pavel Brendl, Griffin Reinhart, to me those guys are busts. Guys with ~500 or fewer NHL games and never accomplished anything before scrubbing out of the league.

Then you have guys like David Legwand, Erik Johnsson, Adam Larsson, etc who had disappointing careers relative to the hype, but still carved out long careers in the NHL. I think Lafreniere will be in this later group. He's not ever going to be the elite #1 center/franchise player that fans and pundits were hoping for, but he is clearly an NHL player and will have a long career in the league.

 

[FoxysExpensiveNYDigs]

Good work by Laf there to finish off those beautiful setups from Breadman!

And with those 2 goals he was able to claw his way back to a healthy 0 +/-. The way he goes ‘controller disconnected’ every time he steps foot in the defensive zone often results in scoring opportunities/goals against.

Oh man plus minus smack. The haters are really reaching at this point. Tasty tears.

 

[ORRFForever]

Yes.

 

[Holocene]

Panarin (who rangers fans wanted fired out of a cannon this offseason) deserves almost all of the credit.

confidently wrong.

 

[Wierzbowski426]

confidently wrong.

No, youre wrong.

Wonderful conversation.

People in the off-season (and for over 1-2 years now) were acting like he's a bust already, and has 0 trade value or close.

To me - he can absolutely still break out and be a star. He's entering his 4th season now - for comparison, MacKinnon didn't break out as a top star until his 5th season. Draisaitl - also 5th season. EP - top of league for points so far this season - also really broke out in his 5th year last year.

I predicted Laf would hit 80 this year - we'll see if he reaches that high or not, but my overall point is it's still too early to give up on him.



I hear Panarin was especially instrumental in that shootout winner last night...

You are really bragging about the skills competition? lol.

 

[Nemec]

Panarin's career splits by Month -

October: 27-65-92 in 81 GP (1.13 ppg)
November: 31-67-98 in 99 GP (0.99 ppg)
December: 39-76-115 in 96 GP (1.20 ppg)
January: 32-55-87 in 88 GP(.986 ppg)
February 32-66-98 in 83 GP (1.18 ppg)
March 36-86-122 in 108 GP (1.13 ppg)
April 26-47-73 in 48 GP (1.52 ppg)

I guess technically he does fade after October since November is worse?

Well I was only half-joking when I called him Mr. October. The guy disappears in the NHL playoffs, so maybe he will start disappearing earlier.

 

[Kupo]

Well I was only half-joking when I called him Mr. October. The guy disappears in the NHL playoffs, so maybe he will start disappearing earlier.

46 points in 57 playoff games is disappearing.....?

 

[PainForShane]

46 points in 57 playoff games is disappearing.....?

If you look a bit harder at the numbers, he was over a point a game for two years in Columbus (Columbus!!!) and also his possession numbers have been borderline elite his entire postseason career (elite in most years). Yes he didn't put up points last year against NJ but no one is going to be perfect all the time, what can anyone reasonably expect.

Haters gonna hate. That's the conclusion here

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Panarin is good. He's really good. He's been a ppg+ player for the last like 7 years, why is this even being argued in this topic.

 

[PainForShane]

Panarin is good. He's really good. He's been a ppg+ player for the last like 7 years, why is this even being argued in this topic.

Because apparently at least one poster hates Panarin the same way you hate Laf (and Phila)

Also, cheesesteaks are honestly pretty delicious. Your loss

 

[Captain Lindy]

Yup. I wonder what all the top scorers numbers looking like withOUT PP1 time.

This! Exactly! Some people think PP time doesn't matter. Come on, people!

 

[Captain Lindy]

Nah, I'm going to pump his tires and enjoy watching him being successful for my team throughout the season as it happens. Hell, I might even evaluate his play mid-season and smile while I'm at it.

That's an impossibility around here.

 

[BrendanGaunce4Selke]

looks like Slafkovsky is the new biggest bust in nhl history

 

[Gardner McKay]

I don't think he's a bust, to me a bust is a guy that scrubs out of the league and doesn't have an NHL career. Patrik Stefan, Nail Yakupov, Cam Barker, Pavel Brendl, Griffin Reinhart, to me those guys are busts. Guys with ~500 or fewer NHL games and never accomplished anything before scrubbing out of the league.

Then you have guys like David Legwand, Erik Johnsson, Adam Larsson, etc who had disappointing careers relative to the hype, but still carved out long careers in the NHL. I think Lafreniere will be in this later group. He's not ever going to be the elite #1 center/franchise player that fans and pundits were hoping for, but he is clearly an NHL player and will have a long career in the league.

I think this is the likely scenario. Probably a 60 point, 30/30 guy with maybe a peak year of 75 or so points. Not bad. Not quite what he was billed to be, but not bad either.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

looks like Slafkovsky is the new biggest bust in nhl history

he still has three years left before then!

Lafreniere may be figuring things out (well see, hes had hot streaks before) but hes already 22 versus 19 for Juraj

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Because apparently at least one poster hates Panarin the same way you hate Laf (and Phila)

Also, cheesesteaks are honestly pretty delicious. Your loss

Let's calm down. Nobody hates Panarin as much as I hate Philadelphia.

 

[BrendanGaunce4Selke]

he still has three years left before then!

Lafreniere may be figuring things out (well see, hes had hot streaks before) but hes already 22 versus 19 for Juraj

he'll be a hurricane by then

 

[PainForShane]

Let's calm down. Nobody hates Panarin as much as I hate Philadelphia.

Ha, well said

EDIT: here's the full Bill Burr roast. I'm sure you've memorized the words to this already just from listening to it so many times, but here it is for everyone else (nsfw). Context is didn't really take place in Philadelphia (took place in Camden which is basically right across the river but there's enough history there / baggage that it's a completely different geographical area, and Camden doesn't generally like Phila). Depending on what mood you're in imo this is legitimately funny if you like that type of humor. Enjoy

 

[ORRFForever]

This! Exactly! Some people think PP time doesn't matter. Come on, people!

I'm guilty of it, too. If it's a player I like, I don't care. If its a player I do not like, I look at the PP points.

 

[Salsa Shark]

Because apparently at least one poster hates Panarin the same way you hate Laf (and Phila)

Also, cheesesteaks are honestly pretty delicious. Your loss

Roast pork >>>> steak AINEC

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

I remember before his draft , the consensus around him was that he might not become a superstar , but he was a cinch to be a star or borderline-star from the get-go, which he totaly failed to be. So in that redard, he's a bust already.

 

[GAGLine]

The amount of time people have spent bashing a player who isn't even on their team is comical.

 

[Voight]

I don't think he's a bust, to me a bust is a guy that scrubs out of the league and doesn't have an NHL career. Patrik Stefan, Nail Yakupov, Cam Barker, Pavel Brendl, Griffin Reinhart, to me those guys are busts. Guys with ~500 or fewer NHL games and never accomplished anything before scrubbing out of the league.

Then you have guys like David Legwand, Erik Johnsson, Adam Larsson, etc who had disappointing careers relative to the hype, but still carved out long careers in the NHL. I think Lafreniere will be in this later group. He's not ever going to be the elite #1 center/franchise player that fans and pundits were hoping for, but he is clearly an NHL player and will have a long career in the league.

I dunno about that. 400 games is the minimum for NHLPA pension so lets use that as a mark.

Thats nearly 5 seasons played. Doesn't seem like a lot but it is.

Tho I suppose some guys will continue to get opportunities because of their draft pedigree and the fact that they were a former top pick, with teams hoping this will be the time they reach their potential.