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

[GirardSpinorama]

As a Canadian, sucks to see so many of our recent highly drafted/highly touted players seemingly not pan out.

The USA is pumping out young, elite, talent at an alarming rate. It hurts our ability to keep up and compete to have Lafreniere, Wright, Dach, Patrick fall completely flat.

Granted it's a bit early on Wright but for a guy formally the consensus #1 overall pick, certainly doesn't look like he has superstar qualities.

Byfield shows signs of life still but for a #2 pick he's iffy too.

Byfield looks like a superstar every time he skates, i get almost mackinnon like awed. He might not have that drive/tenacity but he'll be fine.

 

[BB88]

By playing for a real coach.

How many different coaches does he need?

 

[Raspewtin]

There's absolutely nothing great about this ginger limp dick gnome. He has not a single plus NHL skill. He just sucks and probably would've disappointed anywhere. He literally has sub-NHL IQ and awareness and him "developing" anywhere else won't fix him.

I know it's trendy to blame the Rangers (when in reality they drafted just a complete miss in Andersson, that happens, a boom or bust pick in Kravtsov that busted, which also happens) but I legitimately believe Laf would've sucked anywhere. He just has nothing worth noting at this level.

You wonder if he had been sent back to work on things and continue his growth instead of buried on a roaster trying to win now and being punished for mistakes and killing all confidence if he could be a player.

Rangers just suck at development, there is no way their scouting is that bad. The picks were all fine on draft day, but after every player busts.

he wasn't buried. he got consistent ice time every year here and never got 4th line minutes. he had moments having untalented linemates but if you're a 1st overall you should shine with anyone. this is someone who was scouted by 100% of scouts to be out-of-the-box impact player. Even mediocre 1st overall picks are able to somewhat shine right away.

There was no developing skills that he just doesn't have.

 

[TheNumber4]

I wouldn’t call him a bust until I see him away from NYR which has a reputation of ruining draft picks. He should have went to a team that would play him and develop him like the franchise player he was supposed to be, not play him like some 4th line waiver pick up.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Bring him home to Vancouver. Pettersson can fix him

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

May be jumping the gun too soon. I’d give him 3 more years but unfortunately NYR want to win now and their fans aren’t going to tolerate anymore waiting around. So they should deal Alexia asap to get max value for him while they still can.

 

[Raspewtin]

Adam Fox stepped on the ice a top defenseman in the world and forced a terrible coach in David Quinn to play him top pair minutes because he was so impactful in the small minutes he got. Why can't Laf do that? Why is it we hurdurrr can't developppp talentt? That applies to Kakko too. If they're so good they'll shine in any situation. They don't shine because they're mediocre at best and always were.

 

[PettersonHughes]

I know this isn't Earth Shattering news and many people already felt that way/knew but if you follow the Rangers it's pretty much official now with the ship sailing on him being anything in the NHL.

Many Ranger fans, myself included, still had a glimmer of hope for him coming into the year. But it's Joever.

His only contribution on the year was a backdoor tap-in goal from Panarin. He's been either invisible or noticeably bad other than that. In fact, pretty much all of his NHL goals outside of a couple of highlight reel goals where he dangled, were all back door taps or cleanig up garbage that someone else created for him.

He has no mind or IQ where to go without the puck to get open. When he has the puck he just kind of skates into traffic and has to get rid of it, no skill or ability to beat defenders or make time and space for himself.

Not only will he not ever be a star, I quesiton if he can even stay in the league as a role player or depth player. It really is mindbending how he could be so hyped and dominant in juniors but so bad as a Pro in the NHL.

Agreed, he's gosh-darn awful. Now, since he's so bad, why don't we take him off your hands and give you Conor Garland? Deal??

 

[Mattilaus]

We tried that and you guys sent Eichel to Vegas. Why'd you have to do us like that bro.

I deeply apologize. Can I offer you a UPL or Olofsson from our clearance rack? Unfortunately our Bensons are not ripe yet.

 

[WarriorofTime]

May be jumping the gun too soon. I’d give him 3 more years but unfortunately NYR want to win now and their fans aren’t going to tolerate anymore waiting around. So they should deal Alexia asap to get max value for him while they still can.

They can't tolerate anymore waiting around. He's on a Bridge Deal. He needs to be good by the end of his bridge deal as his next deal is a "you are what you are" deal regardless of where he ends up.

Max value is gonna be quite low. He's just a speculative player. In the best case scenario where he gets more opportunity and shines, you're just in a position of needing to hand him a huge deal in 2025, which is unlikely to be a particularly team value deal because it wasn't signed after his ELC and with more development years ahead. Otherwise he doesn't and it's the same spot as the Rangers. It's not really the type of thing you're emptying the tanks to bring him.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

I deeply apologize. Can I offer you a UPL or Olofsson from our clearance rack? Unfortunately our Bensons are not ripe yet.

But wait! There's more! Trade now and get Olofsson HALF OFF with your choice of a customary 3rd round pick or Tyson Jost*!

(*He plays the PK.)

 

[Cursed Lemon]

I cannot believe the bullet Detroit dodged by getting f***ed in the 2020 draft. It's actually a miracle.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

If you play your first overall potential superstar pick as a 3rd liner, with 3rd/4th line players, for 3 years, chances are he'll develop into...a 3rd line player.

Couldn't it be the other way around- his lack of skill is why he isn't getting more ice time?

Andrei Svechnikov played his 18 year old post draft season on Carolina's 3rd line. He not only dominated, by the playoffs he had earned a promotion to the first line with Aho. As an example.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

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

So if you had to bet, do you think Laf ends up closer to a Thornton-tier player, or to Yak/Daigle/Stefan?

 

[FiveTacos]

The point is that it is way too early to write him off.

I wouldn't say it's time to write him off, but it's no longer way too early. He's closer to the point where it's never gonna happen, than he is to the beginning of his career.

At minimum he needs to show a few extended flashes of what could be, or you'd have to start concluding that he's just not capable of it.

 

[Jeune Poulet]

Adam Fox stepped on the ice a top defenseman in the world and forced a terrible coach in David Quinn to play him top pair minutes because he was so impactful in the small minutes he got. Why can't Laf do that? Why is it we hurdurrr can't developppp talentt? That applies to Kakko too. If they're so good they'll shine in any situation. They don't shine because they're mediocre at best and always were.

That might be true but it's useless to try to lay the blame 100% on either the team or the player.

Sometimes a player doesn't work out with a team and does better with a new one. Doesn't necessarly mean his former team was incapable of developing prospects.

Regardlesss of whose fault it is and what potential Lafrenière holds, at this point a trade would be good for everyone involved. Maybe Lafrenière won't do better elsewhere, maybe he will. But it's looking less and less likely that he will break significant ground in NY.

 

[Bourne Endeavor]

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No more excuses.

The brightest hope this guy has right now is to (slightly) out score Nail Yakupov over his first 4 seasons.

No more "he just needs more powerplay time".

No more "he just needs different linemates".

It's over. Lafreniere is definitively in the discussion for worst #1ovr pick in NHL history.

Damn. I knew Lafreniere was pretty ho hum at this point but that is dreadful. You really can't argue he's a bust at this point. He may still carve out some sort of career or be potential late bloomer but anything beyond "bottom six" is overhyping the guy.

 

[Hischier and Hughes]

The Lightning tried to do that with Drouin and we all saw how that turned out. Not that Laf would necessarily have responded the same way, but sometimes a bust is just a bust no matter what the team does with him.

Drouin has dealt with personal issues!

unless it turns out Lafreniere takes some time away from hockey as well.. i think he just lacks the work ethic!

his size and ability in juniors got him by and overhyped him

 

[Team_Spirit]

There's absolutely nothing great about this ginger limp dick gnome.

It's gonna be OK

 

[Samsquanch]

Lol it feels like just yesterday that Rangers fans were telling Sens fans that it would cost the #3 + #5 + something else for that 1st overall pick....

 

[WarriorofTime]

I cannot believe the bullet Detroit dodged by getting f***ed in the 2020 draft. It's actually a miracle.

Stutzle?

Ottawa won that draft for sure. Probably the two best players in the whole thing.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

On a hockey level, is there anything about him that Ranger fans could hope for? I do watch a lot of NYR games because of location, but I don’t watch them all. What’s his upside now? If he ends up as a 3-4 line grinder, that’s ok. Not ideal for a first overall pick. But can he be a useful NHL player in any capacity?

 

[LOFIN]

Adam Fox stepped on the ice a top defenseman in the world and forced a terrible coach in David Quinn to play him top pair minutes because he was so impactful in the small minutes he got. Why can't Laf do that? Why is it we hurdurrr can't developppp talentt? That applies to Kakko too. If they're so good they'll shine in any situation. They don't shine because they're mediocre at best and always were.

No one in the Rangers is shining right now. Take a look at their 5v5 scoring bud. Kakko and Laf are so horrible, that they have just 1 point each. Meanwhile, established vets like Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider have 2 5v5 points each. In 12 periods of hockey.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

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

Just don’t remind them of the open net mishap!

 

[AndreRoy]

Drouin has dealt with personal issues!

unless it turns out Lafreniere takes some time away from hockey as well.. i think he just lacks the work ethic!

his size and ability in juniors got him by and overhyped him

Drouin was an egotistical punk with zero work ethic and a massive sense of entitlement long before his so-called “personal issues” became the go-to excuse for his failures. He didn’t want to listen to his coaches in Tampa, and then decided he was too special to be sent back to Syracuse to work on his game there so he threw a hissy fit and refused to report. Mental health issues didn’t cause that - character issues did.