The Rangers have a few high-profile pending free agents. While none of them eclipse the value of potential top UFA goalie Igor Shesterkin, 2020 first-overall pick Alexis Lafrenière has finally broken out as a core piece of their top-six forward group. He’ll be an RFA next summer without a new deal.
While a report at the beginning of the summer from USA Today’s Vince Z. Mercogliano indicated Lafrenière was unlikely to kick off extension negotiations over the summer, that wasn’t the case. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said late last night that they’ve been discussing different contract options for a few months, including an eight-year deal in the $64MM range.
That offer undoubtedly indicates the massive step in the right direction Lafrenière took last season. The two-time CHL Player of the Year was finally given a lengthy runway in top-flight minutes alongside Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck last year after Peter Laviolette took over behind the bench, responding with a career-high 28 goals and 57 points in 82 games. It still wasn’t quite the level of production most initially expected him to provide, but if his 14 points in 16 playoff games to end the year were a sign of things to come, he’s looking at another significant leap forward in 2024-25.
The Quebec native is still just 23 years old (his birthday is today), and he’ll play his 300th regular-season game when the Blueshirts host Utah tomorrow. While he’s only produced at a half-point-per-game clip throughout that time, he’s also had enough NHL opportunities to demonstrate a linear development path offensively over the past couple of years. With a consistently positive trajectory entering his prime, an $8MM AAV may be a gamble worth taking on a long-term deal for Rangers general manager Chris Drury to keep one of his top players cost-controlled through the rest of their championship contention window.
Lafrenière is in the back half of a two-year, $4.65MM bridge deal he signed after his entry-level contract expired in 2023. An $8MM AAV would be nearly a 350% raise on what he’s currently making.
The Rangers could likely shoulder it without too much fanfare. That would give them roughly $67MM wrapped up in 12 players for 2025-26. While that would leave only $25.5MM to fill 11 roster spots with a projected salary cap rise to $92.5MM, most expect them to try and move the final year of captain Jacob Trouba’s deal at an $8MM cap hit after failing to do so this offseason. Suppose they get a long-term deal done with Lafrenière in that range. In that case, it shouldn’t severely handicap their ability to retain Shesterkin and refresh their depth as they gear up to remain in championship contention through the rest of the decade.
The article mentions Lafreniere’s offensive development, but the other parts of his game are really strong as well.
He is a very popular teammate who works his tail off on every shift, is a very good defensive player and every once in while he shows up at the rink with some edge and some snarl.
There’s an awful lot to his overall game, and his effort is very consistent.
If Lafreniere didn’t have a proven defensive game, I’d choke on $8 MM from a guy who’s only had one good offensive season. But he’s very solid defensively, so from the Rangers’ standpoint it’s likely be a good bet.
Weird to open the pocketbook for a guy who Ranger fans were ready to run outta town on a rail a year ago.
Yeah, too many of us are fickle. Too many lack patience in player development, or they feel burned by too many picks that haven’t panned out.
Only the dumb ones were yelling.
99% of the time the 1st overall pick is joining a 67 point roster that is in the process of tanking and the entire world within that organization revolves around their offensive progress.
With Lafreniere, he was joining a 100 point team, with two established stars (Kreider and Panarin) ahead of him at LW on the depth chart, got no power play time, and was asked to play a different type of role.
And he played that role well, kept his head down, and worked his tail off.
You had to be pretty dumb to be calling for him to get shipped out, at 21,22 years old.