The New York Rangers have decided to drop Alexis Lafreniere even further down than the fourth line. He’ll spend this evening in the press box as a healthy scratch while the Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sammy Blais will enter the lineup in his place, according to Colin Stephenson of Newsday.
The Rangers and the 2020 first-overall pick are at a critical point, according to Arthur Staple of The Athletic, who spoke to several scouts that were critical of Lafreniere’s play. Still just 21 years old, the left-shot forward has five goals and 17 points in 36 games.
He has seen his playing time decrease rapidly over the last few weeks, and now he’ll have to watch a sixth-round pick in Blais take his lineup spot. Lafreniere scored more goals last season than Blais has over his entire career; in fact, he hasn’t scored a single time since arriving in New York before last season.
But it’s the lack of identity that comes up in so many critiques of Lafreniere’s play. He disappears often and rarely imposes his will on a game, even though there is talent to do so. The legendary junior player – who won two QMJHL MVP awards, two CHL Player of the Year awards, and World Junior gold and MVP honors – is too rarely present for the Rangers.
Lafreniere has scored 36 goals and 69 points in 171 games, while bouncing all around the lineup to try and find a good fit. While one healthy scratch doesn’t mean he’ll be immediately traded, it is just another chapter in what has been an imperfect marriage since the moment he was selected.
Notably, the young forward is going to be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and will likely have to settle for an inexpensive deal. There’s no reason to pay him, given he doesn’t have arbitration rights or much leverage. What that contract looks like will be determined by the second half of 2022-23, when he’ll either re-establish himself as a core piece for the Rangers moving forward, or confirm the idea that he’s never going to become that difference-maker for New York.
Ptff.. i dont know what’s their plan with him..the guy has been buried on the 3rd line his entire career so far..
The next Alexandre Daigle?
They had no business selecting first overall in that draft anyways.
You still dominate in the category of making predictions years after stuff has happened.
Trade him it’ll be better for him
We’re these poor first round picks by the Rangers or just weak drafts?
Lafreniere was widely regarded as the consensus #1 draft prospect and a “generational talent” if I remember correctly (although to be fair, it seems like every top 2-3 prospect the past 10 years or so were given the same draft superlative). So atleast for Lafreniere I don’t think it was a poor pick or it suggests he was in a weak draft…either the Rangers aren’t using him correctly or he was overhyped.
May be better suited on a team with less external pressure
David Poile should be on the phone about this. In a sane world at least. :/
What JT19 said.
Also, something people need to keep in mind: first round draft picks are NOT GUARANTEES. Take a look at the rest of the 2020 first round. Thirteen of those guys have played less than ten NHL games (and only nine players outside the first round have seen any NHL action). Many of the rest have shown us nothing so far. Only a half dozen are impact players, and only Tim Stutzle can be considered a genuine star. The fact is that Lafreniere has outscored everyone in the entire 2020 draft *other* than Stutzle and Lucas Raymond.
2020 too soon? Fair enough. Go back five years to 2015. Sure, there are names like McDavid, Eichel, Marner, Rantanen, Connor — it was a pretty good draft year. But there were also five picks who’ve played less than a single NHL season so far, and a lot of underachievers like White, Svechnikov, Larsson and the like. It happens every draft.
You said what I was going to point out regarding the draft. Furthermore, he’s been on a third line with other kids learning to play in the NHL and has actually improved his points per game average. He’s already equaled his assists from last year. Look at the rest of that draft and there’s only two I can say have out performed him – those you mentioned. He just needs more time, first or second line minutes and game situations for experience. There’s other players who’ve struggled early in their career and then had their epiphany. I’m betting he’s one of them.
Well … I don’t myself think Lafreniere’s shown anything more than that he can be a decent third-liner. He was rushed too soon (because, after all, you can’t send the first pick in the draft to the minors, right, or else you look bad, right?) … maybe he makes it, maybe he doesn’t.
But it doesn’t thereby follow that the Rangers were idiots to draft him. He was the consensus #1 pick going back a year or more … which, as JT19 said, seems to happen to a lot of people these days. I’ve done a lot of after-the-fact draft analysis over the years, and what stands out is this: out of every first round, there averages about one guy who’s a first-ballot superstar — a Crosby, a McDavid.
Five or six turn out to be elite players, guys who pick up All-Star Team berths or a trophy along the way: a Tarasenko, a Hall, a Kuznetsov.
A half dozen or more are good soldiers, the ones who fill out second lines and that you’re glad to have around, because they’ll have a career year that helps put your team into the playoffs: a Hayes, a Nelson, a Schwartz, a Campbell. (Yeah, I’m picking on 2010 here.) Then you’ve got half a dozen of ‘meh’ — guys who weren’t worth first round picks, but who aren’t hurting your team: call them Derek Forbort or Riley Sheahan or Nick Bjugstad.
And then you’ve got eight to ten guys who are divided between Gudbranson-, Burmistrov- or Connolly-level draft busts, and first rounders you’ve barely heard of: who the hell was Joey Hishon or Brandon Gormley or Mark Visentin or Emerson Etem?
but sheahan was a 1st round pick and he doesn’t help any team
Four letter word, starts with “b” and ends with “t”.
Not sure hes the best, lol
Vancouver wants him, at least the asst GM’s are very fond of him….. Maybe for Boeser.
Laf and a 2nd for Brock ($2M retained)
New York hangs up the phone immediately.
… and New York would be brain damaged if they did hang up. That would be a pretty great deal.
Could also deal him to Van for Kuzmenko. He is nearly a pt per game and I doubt Van has the space to re-sign him. NYR will face a cap crunch also, but have more players that are trade worthy, so they may be able to make room to re-sign him, or consider him a rental, as they are on a better likelihood of being in a playoff spot than the Nucks.
I’m hanging up the phone as well. He’s in his third year and needs minutes. Consistently. He’s a top pick that is playing on a top team that just turned the corner after they drafted him.
Could see him as part of a future return for Patrick Kane. Still just 21 w upside. Eventually, probably elsewhere likely a 20-25 goal, 50-60 point player and maybe the chance for more.
my first thought here was “asset projection” when a trade is immanent. second thought was Patrick Kane
Him and kakko
Once they committed long term to Kreider after already having Panarin locked up, they should have traded him.
He’s a LW and he’s not (you’d hope) a third liner.
Still, his ceiling seems much closer to a Jason Zucker type of player than the star you’d expect from a 1-1 pick.
Maybe he has the same phone number as Ed Whitson?
Trade him for Jesse from the Oilers. Both need a change of scenery
Start spreading the news
I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York…
He’s not the first, he’s not the last one, New York have something weird with their prospects, look to their first choices, few are developped well, how can you miss on Lafrenière and Kakko, what we can see is that they are very different players than they were before to be drafted, Kakko is like extinct. Gallant is not even talking to rookies, Gauthier told it to the Montréal medias last year. They should take this development problem and fix it, otherwise history will repeat, New York New York…