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

[ref19]

His brightest hope is Slafkovsky potentially doing worse!

Big difference in hype as prospects.

 

[aufheben]

I remarked like at least six months before the Rangers won the draft lottery that Lafreniere was such a bust sounding name. Joke was on me I guess.

 

[TBF1972]

He'll still carve out a decent career but yea he's a disappointment for sure, especially considering the hype behind him. Serious question though. Are the Rangers just bad at identifying talent and developing young players? Kakko isn't exactly lighting the world on fire either and the Kravtsov situation was pretty well known. Not a Rangers fan so I'm not really in the loop but other than Chytil I can't think of a forward prospect that has developed well for them in recent memory.

who has the lias anderson gif at hand?

Drafting a 1st overall bust in the 2020's is insane.
Goes to show that some players just look insane against their own age and then have no idea what to do against the NHL.

early physical maturation

 

[banks]

I don't like to give up on players too early. But I never saw anything from Laf that interested me at the NHL level. I got the same impression from the eye test watching Laf that I got watching Jesse Puljujarvi. Someone completely out of their league.

He's a bust.

 

[robertmac43]

I'm a little mind blown to see this guy has played over 200 NHL games already.

 

[BKarchitect]

Yeah it’s getting hard to defend. There’s still a contingent that will say “yeah but he’s only just turned 22” and couple that with “look at so and so prospect at the same age and that prospect is still deemed a high upside or valuable prospect by their fans”.

And it’s true. Laf is still fairly young. And there are guys around his age or maybe even slightly older with far less track record at the NHL who are “hyped” to one degree or another and seen as valuable assets. So maybe on the surface, there’s a double standard?

Unfortunately this line of defense falls apart precisely because we have now seen so much of Laf at the NHL, we have seen so little development, we have seen his role continue to be marginal. He’s not some 6-5 toolsy guy still growing into his frame. He’s not an elite skater still learning how to harness his mobility. He’s not a natural playmaker being screwed over by his team with poor linemates and no chances.

I think he still has some trade value. I really do even though people are going to say “I don’t want this guy”. I think he’s got some solid goal scoring ability. I think despite what people will say - his draft pedigree is still going to give him some residual value. I think there’s a world in which he can be a decent second line winger down the line. But I definitely don’t think that will be in New York. And for certain - it is looking like one of the worst overall #1 picks in the modern era.

 

[Howboutthempanthers]

Maybe this is just karma for messing with the draft too much over the tank boogieman. The Rangers and the Flyers both jumped way up in the draft to draft top 2, and get disappointing outcomes. No offense to the Rangers or the Flyers, this is not really about them. This is about the NHL focusing on tanking too much, and screwing with the draft. Handing middle of the road teams top picks, when the bottom feeders, teams who actually are rebuilding, need them more.

 

[AvroArrow]

I don't think he'll ever develop in NY, the kid needs a change of scenery. Rangers fans won't wanna trade him for what he's worth because they paid the 1st overall pick to draft him. But you just gotta cut your losses and get something. Confidence is likely completely gone.

He may still emerge as a star somewhere else, but he needs a fresh start.

 

[Breakers]

LOLOLOL

this thread

I think the old thread was called "NY sucks at developing prospects"

 

[Romang67]

Imagine how much criticism he would be getting is he was Russian

You... don't think Lafreniere is getting criticism? What do you think people would be doing if he were Russian? March with torches in the street, calling for his head?

 

[Kairi Zaide]

Big difference in hype as prospects.

Oh for sure. Was mentionning that as far as 1st ovr picks go, but yeah, Slaf was probably the least hyped 1st overall of the past 2 decades+ (and that will likely stay true until 2026 at the earliest)

 

[Coffey]

early physical maturation

Bingo.

 

[petterdaddy]

you think playing 455 games in the best hockey league in the world isn't impressive by itself? yeah, it's a disappointing result for what we expect out of a 1st OV pick, but man would i be bragging to everyone i know if i had played in 1 NHL game in my life - even a pre-season game ffs

Context matters. I have a feeling that if you were drafted 1st overall you maybe have some different expectations for yourself

 

[AvsGuy]

I feel really bad for NYR, crying crocodile tears here.

How about Kubalik for Laf? Kubalik is pending UFA as a complementary goal scorer at $2.5M.

The Sens do this to gain some cap to sign Pinto.

You know you want to.

Ottawa says "Kubalik my balls"

 

[blundluntman]

Now do Joe Thornton
First 3 seasons
213 games played, 42 goals, 66 assists, 108 points

These kind of posts need to stop. By Thornton's 3rd season, he was a 60 point forward during the middle of the dead puck era. Last year was one of the highest-scoring seasons in the past 25 years and Lafreniere couldn't even crank out a measly 40.

 

[lwvs84]

Is he a bust or a disappointment? Seems like he's an NHL player... just not what he was hyped to be.

 

[sansabri]

Context matters. I have a feeling that if you were drafted 1st overall you maybe have some different expectations for yourself

there's no doubt that he hasn't lived up to his draft hype, but he's not about to pack his bags to go play in Europe

 

[ElysiumAB]

He buzzed and zipped randomly around the rink, creating confusion and vertigo for the other team!

To be fair to Yak, he WAS being chased by bees.

 

[LokiDog]

Now do Joe Thornton
First 3 seasons
213 games played, 42 goals, 66 assists, 108 points

108 points in 213 games is a reasonable bump above 92 points in 220 games. The difference is:

41.5 points per 82 games
Vs
34.2 points per 82 games

 

[PainForShane]

Yeah it’s getting hard to defend. There’s still a contingent that will say “yeah but he’s only just turned 22” and couple that with “look at so and so prospect at the same age and that prospect is still deemed a high upside or valuable prospect by their fans”.

And it’s true. Laf is still fairly young. And there are guys around his age or maybe even slightly older with far less track record at the NHL who are “hyped” to one degree or another and seen as valuable assets. So maybe on the surface, there’s a double standard?

Unfortunately this line of defense falls apart precisely because we have now seen so much of Laf at the NHL, we have seen so little development, we have seen his role continue to be marginal. He’s not some 6-5 toolsy guy still growing into his frame. He’s not an elite skater still learning how to harness his mobility. He’s not a natural playmaker being screwed over by his team with poor linemates and no chances.

I think he still has some trade value. I really do even though people are going to say “I don’t want this guy”. I think he’s got some solid goal scoring ability. I think despite what people will say - his draft pedigree is still going to give him some residual value. I think there’s a world in which he can be a decent second line winger down the line. But I definitely don’t think that will be in New York. And for certain - it is looking like one of the worst overall #1 picks in the modern era.

I still don't think so. He's played LW his entire career, on the Rangers he's stuck behind Bread and Kreider, that won't change because they're both there long term. This year is really the first time he's ever had a chance at a top 6 role and it's on his off-side, that's not an easy shift to make, especially at the NHL level for a 22 year old kid.

Yes this is a lot of time spent making excuses, but like.. what else is he supposed to do. Some ppl are saying that he should be outplaying Panarin or Kreider as a 19-22 year old... please.

I think of Laf as a 1st overall pick who's gotten late first round opportunity. Given the situation his development hasn't been unexpectedly terrible, it's just been a really bad situation for him. More importantly, no easy solution because the Rangers are / have been win-now, they're not going to give reps to some kid just so they can be a worse team with Panarin or Kreider out of their top six.

***

All that to say, 100% agree that a trade clearly would make sense. I'd take him on the coyotes in half a second, stick him with one of your top development centers (in this case, Cooley) for at least 10-15 games and see what Laf can do with actual opportunity on his preferred side. Pretty sure every rebuilding team would do the same thing wrt Laf's development

 

[hawksrule]

I still don't think so. He's played LW his entire career, on the Rangers he's stuck behind Bread and Kreider, that won't change because they're both there long term. This year is really the first time he's ever had a chance at a top 6 role and it's on his off-side, that's not an easy shift to make, especially at the NHL level for a 22 year old kid.

Yes this is a lot of time spent making excuses, but like.. what else is he supposed to do. Some ppl are saying that he should be outplaying Panarin or Kreider as a 19-22 year old... please.

I think of Laf as a 1st overall pick who's gotten late first round opportunity. Given the situation his development hasn't been unexpectedly terrible, it's just been a really bad situation for him. More importantly, no easy solution because the Rangers are / have been win-now, they're not going to give reps to some kid just so they can be a worse team with Panarin or Kreider out of their top six.

***

All that to say, 100% agree that a trade clearly would make sense. I'd take him on the coyotes in half a second, stick him with one of your top development centers (in this case, Cooley) for at least 10-15 games and see what Laf can do with actual opportunity on his preferred side. Pretty sure every rebuilding team would do the same thing wrt Laf's development

Playing off-side for a winger is really not a big deal.

 

[Profet]

Yes this is a lot of time spent making excuses, but like.. what else is he supposed to do. Some ppl are saying that he should be outplaying Panarin or Kreider as a 19-22 year old... please.

I'd be happy if he outplayed Jimmy Vesey.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Now do Joe Thornton
First 3 seasons
213 games played, 42 goals, 66 assists, 108 points

Points... 7 to 41 to 60.

Not comparable at all.

 

[Chuck Downie]

He’s a #1 overall bust, but he’ll still play. When I saw him play in junior I really couldn’t believe he was considered the best prospect that year.

 

[MakoSlade]

Points... 7 to 41 to 60.

Not comparable at all.

I recall the talk around Thornton at that time, even during his disaster rookie year, was "watch out, the Breakout is coming!" You could see he was a monster.

You didn't hear such talk about Laf, ever.