[Signing] Rangers re-sign Alexis Lafreniere

[canucklehead44]

On 8/24/2023 at 7:22 AM, Salacious Crumb said:

The Gilbert Brule development arc? Why does Laf remind me of that player?

Brule got injured and had pretty severe mental health issues. Brule actually reminds me a lot of Jared McCann but McCann persevered.

 

Jack Hughes’ first two seasons weren’t too different than Lafreniere’s but he broke out in his third season. 
 

I think Lafreniere maybe isn’t a good fit in terms of deployment, linemate, icetime, systems etc. Perhaps rushed when he wasn’t ready. Neely was actually very similar in terms of production with Vancouver and exploded the first year after a trade - I think a change of scenery would be a win win but the fear of looking bad trading him too early likely lingers as well.

 

Lafreniere for Byfield or Dach would make sense 

[hammertime]

Well theres one buy low candidate off the table for now. here are some others. 

 

We need to get some size and sand with enough skill to play in our top 9. Alvin needs to find a way to move Brock and/or Beau but I won't bore you with a proposal regarding them. GM's around the league find ways to move players except ours.   

 

Cole Sillinger has only 17 waiver exempt games remaining. He had quite the sophomore slump. His bread and butter has been as a sniper where he had a 11.02 5v5 shooting %age in his first year it fell off a cliff in his 2nd at just 1.23%. He's bound to rebound 

 

Raphael Lavoie 6'4 215 right shot C clapps bombs and has been developing steadily every year he's now 22 and it's either big time or waivers. Lavoie first caught my eye when he went on an absolute tear in the QMJHL playoffs in his draft year. 

[aGENT]

11 hours ago, hammertime said:

Well theres one buy low candidate off the table for now. here are some others. 

 

We need to get some size and sand with enough skill to play in our top 9. Alvin needs to find a way to move Brock and/or Beau but I won't bore you with a proposal regarding them. GM's around the league find ways to move players except ours.   

 

Cole Sillinger has only 17 waiver exempt games remaining. He had quite the sophomore slump. His bread and butter has been as a sniper where he had a 11.02 5v5 shooting %age in his first year it fell off a cliff in his 2nd at just 1.23%. He's bound to rebound 

 

Raphael Lavoie 6'4 215 right shot C clapps bombs and has been developing steadily every year he's now 22 and it's either big time or waivers. Lavoie first caught my eye when he went on an absolute tear in the QMJHL playoffs in his draft year. 

Comtois (if cleared) is another, likely inexpensive, option for some more oomph. Hoping we see at least a PTO here (and that he's clear of any wrong doing).

 

Crouse would have been great, but with ARZ reportedly looking to take steps, isn't likely moving anywhere sadly.

[hammertime]

11 minutes ago, aGENT said:

Comtois (if cleared) is another, likely inexpensive, option for some more oomph. Hoping we see at least a PTO here (and that he's clear of any wrong doing).

 

Crouse would have been great, but with ARZ reportedly looking to take steps, isn't likely moving anywhere sadly.

I'm more trawling for guys who could be a long term solution to our depth at C. I agree though Comtois has serious red flags regarding WJC if he's cleared maybe but that goes back to Alvin absolutely has to find a way to make some room on the wings and shed some cap. I would love to add a Cole Smith, Sammi Blais, but Alvin has to put his big boy pants on and trade a 1ply winger.   

 

Sillinger/Lavoie in addition to Raty would be a step towards fixing our teams foundation instead of sprayfoaming it with free agents. 

 

[Gawdzukes]

On 8/24/2023 at 5:43 PM, wai_lai416 said:

Brule is not even comparable in terms of skills and raw potential.. they rangers f up 2 player with very high potential by deploying and developing them poorly.. Laf and that habs like whatever his name was are one of the few cases where a 1st overall pick wasn't given any extended period of time in a top line all situation to see what they can or can't do.. if they had no plans of giving him a chance on the top line at the nhl level should have moved him to the AHL or just trade him instead of ruining a kid's confidence

It's not really the end of the world. These guys played in sheltered roles on good teams. They can and probably will break out when relied upon more. Whether with the Rangers or someone else.

[wai_lai416]

1 hour ago, Gawdzukes said:

It's not really the end of the world. These guys played in sheltered roles on good teams. They can and probably will break out when relied upon more. Whether with the Rangers or someone else.

sure but by the time that happens they prolly missed out on the most critical part of their development time and never even come close 50% of their potential.. it's like they are trying to develop top end offensive talent into a grinder. 

[Gawdzukes]

1 hour ago, wai_lai416 said:

sure but by the time that happens they prolly missed out on the most critical part of their development time and never even come close 50% of their potential.. it's like they are trying to develop top end offensive talent into a grinder. 

It's more like they were trying to win hockey games and integrate them into the team at the same time. I don't think that experience will necessarily hurt them. If they are truly gifted it will come to the surface eventually. They wouldn't be the first rookies to earn it the hard way.

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

53 minutes ago, Gawdzukes said:

It's more like they were trying to win hockey games and integrate them into the team at the same time. I don't think that experience will necessarily hurt them. If they are truly gifted it will come to the surface eventually. They wouldn't be the first rookies to earn it the hard way.

Like Nico Hischier?  He was still given every opportunity to play aggressive and succeed.  These two Rangers, though... their confidence to control and dictate play has definitely been affected, especially with Lafrenière.  The problem here is that neither of them have developed their offensive game at all since going pro.  Even if you place those two players on a top line with... someone like Panarin, it'll take time for them to adjust to that style of play.  Even guys like Crosby and McDavid took a couple of years to become comfortable with the NHL's style of play before exploding offensively.

 

It's a waste of talent.

[wai_lai416]

2 hours ago, Gawdzukes said:

It's more like they were trying to win hockey games and integrate them into the team at the same time. I don't think that experience will necessarily hurt them. If they are truly gifted it will come to the surface eventually. They wouldn't be the first rookies to earn it the hard way.

they wouldn't be they certainly would be one of the very few 1st 2nd overall picks especially 1st overall to not be given extended chance on the top lines that matches their style to show what they can do. who was the last 1st overall pick to not be spoon fed top line mins/opportunity in the league the moment they play in the NHL? Slafkovsky? that guy have bust written everywhere.. i dont get the hype with this kid.. like he's playing in some finland league against men? but his stats doesn't even jump out.. my prediction with this guy he'll be nothing more than a 3rd liner or maybe he'll follow the way of yak

[Gawdzukes]

13 hours ago, Bob.Loblaw said:

Like Nico Hischier?  He was still given every opportunity to play aggressive and succeed.  These two Rangers, though... their confidence to control and dictate play has definitely been affected, especially with Lafrenière.  The problem here is that neither of them have developed their offensive game at all since going pro.  Even if you place those two players on a top line with... someone like Panarin, it'll take time for them to adjust to that style of play.  Even guys like Crosby and McDavid took a couple of years to become comfortable with the NHL's style of play before exploding offensively.

 

It's a waste of talent.

Maybe. It seemed reasonable to me. They made the SCF doing it. The NHL is not a developmental league. I guess they could have put them in the AHL and filled the third line with cheap bums and then maybe they don't make the final, but I'm not going to argue. I don't have a problem with it.

 

11 hours ago, wai_lai416 said:

they wouldn't be they certainly would be one of the very few 1st 2nd overall picks especially 1st overall to not be given extended chance on the top lines that matches their style to show what they can do. who was the last 1st overall pick to not be spoon fed top line mins/opportunity in the league the moment they play in the NHL? Slafkovsky? that guy have bust written everywhere.. i dont get the hype with this kid.. like he's playing in some finland league against men? but his stats doesn't even jump out.. my prediction with this guy he'll be nothing more than a 3rd liner or maybe he'll follow the way of yak

Probably Byfield in 2021. Hirschier 2017. When was the last time a team as good as the Rangers got to draft first and second overall? Whatever, they're shitty at development then. It's really not that important to me.

[Pure961089]

On 8/23/2023 at 1:56 PM, Mrwipeout said:

ive always wondered abt Lafreniere.....he was so dominant in the WJC but in the NHL hes never reached the No 1 C status....reminds me of Kakko also....are the Rangers bad at developing young new potential stars?

Kravtsov as well. 9th overall in 2018 and Lias Andersson 7th oa in 2017. Their team was saved with Fox 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Pure961089

[wai_lai416]

2 hours ago, Pure961089 said:

Kravtsov as well. 9th overall in 2018 and Lias Andersson 7th oa in 2017. Their team was saved with Fox 

i mean they aren't unlike the canucks.. their ahl is where all their prospects go to rot just like ours.. since i dunno when we have 1 prospect that graduated from ahl with any success and that's demko.. everyone else we are still waiting.. all of our draft picks that had success on this team skipped the ahl.. all our prospect that have no success went thru the ahl.. virtanen juolevi lind and whoever else maybe soon to be podz and hogs.. all i've hear from the prospect is hype and potential in the AHL yet to see one outside goalies to turn the hype potential into something. 

 

fox just went straight from ncaa to the nhl so rangers didn't even have to develop him much

[Pure961089]

33 minutes ago, wai_lai416 said:

i mean they aren't unlike the canucks.. their ahl is where all their prospects go to rot just like ours.. since i dunno when we have 1 prospect that graduated from ahl with any success and that's demko.. everyone else we are still waiting.. all of our draft picks that had success on this team skipped the ahl.. all our prospect that have no success went thru the ahl.. virtanen juolevi lind and whoever else maybe soon to be podz and hogs.. all i've hear from the prospect is hype and potential in the AHL yet to see one outside goalies to turn the hype potential into something. 

 

fox just went straight from ncaa to the nhl so rangers didn't even have to develop him much

I agree that for more than a decade our AHL team is where our prospects have their careers to to die. But that being said I like the way Klimovich has been coming along and the team is in Abbotsford now.  That and a massively improved player development staff I'm a lot more optimistic with the way our AHL prospects are being handled.  I got a good feeling about Raty and Klim next year.  Both only 20, a ton of raw talent with the most hands on development staff we've ever had. Feels good man.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Pure961089

[wai_lai416]

2 hours ago, Pure961089 said:

I agree that for more than a decade our AHL team is where our prospects have their careers to to die. But that being said I like the way Klimovich has been coming along and the team is in Abbotsford now.  That and a massively improved player development staff I'm a lot more optimistic with the way our AHL prospects are being handled.  I got a good feeling about Raty and Klim next year.  Both only 20, a ton of raw talent with the most hands on development staff we've ever had. Feels good man.

i hope for the players and teams sake that the development staff will handle them properly

[IBatch]

On 8/24/2023 at 5:33 PM, Citizen Erased said:

If not, he will be Alexander Daigle.

And even he had some decent seasons.   If he was a second rounder he'd be a great pick - but that hype was something.    Patrick Stefan arc is another one. 

[Elias Pettersson]

17 minutes ago, IBatch said:

And even he had some decent seasons.   If he was a second rounder he'd be a great pick - but that hype was something.    Patrick Stefan arc is another one. 

Daigle had 51 points in his 4th season in the NHL.  For comparison, Nathan MacKinnon had 53 points.  Daigle had alot of natural talent, alot more than Henrik Sedin.  He just couldn't put it all together for whatever reason.  Playing on a sh*t team like Ottawa at the time didn't help.  Also, from what I remember he wasn't really a centre, I think they ended up switching him over to the wing.  I don't think he was very good at faceoffs and tracking back with defensive responsibilities.

 

Patrick Stefan though, man was he a bust...

[IBatch]

40 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

Daigle had 51 points in his 4th season in the NHL.  For comparison, Nathan MacKinnon had 53 points.  Daigle had alot of natural talent, alot more than Henrik Sedin.  He just couldn't put it all together for whatever reason.  Playing on a sh*t team like Ottawa at the time didn't help.  Also, from what I remember he wasn't really a centre, I think they ended up switching him over to the wing.  I don't think he was very good at faceoffs and tracking back with defensive responsibilities.

 

Patrick Stefan though, man was he a bust...

Remember the big deal back then, he was supposed to be the next generational player - hyped liked Lindros , McDavid, Crosby and Bedard (he was breaking some big name records in juniors at the time).   So would be like Bedard falling on his face, or Crosby or McDavid ... and just being a good journeyman instead.   Took a year off hockey and came back and wasn't terrible either.   Was tabled to be the "next Mario"...  The other issue at the time, was he was obviously not the best young player on the team but was being paid to be the guy.  Yashin was the best young player on that team and wasn't getting paid like one.   Created an internal issue.   Daigle wasn't a typical first overall pick at all.   

Edited September 2, 2023 by IBatch

[canuck73_3]

On 8/25/2023 at 1:57 PM, canucklehead44 said:

Brule got injured and had pretty severe mental health issues. Brule actually reminds me a lot of Jared McCann but McCann persevered.

 

Jack Hughes’ first two seasons weren’t too different than Lafreniere’s but he broke out in his third season. 
 

I think Lafreniere maybe isn’t a good fit in terms of deployment, linemate, icetime, systems etc. Perhaps rushed when he wasn’t ready. Neely was actually very similar in terms of production with Vancouver and exploded the first year after a trade - I think a change of scenery would be a win win but the fear of looking bad trading him too early likely lingers as well.

 

Lafreniere for Byfield or Dach would make sense 

Maybe he had a bit of an off game overall in Edmonton when I saw him, he had a goal but Kakko did all the work on it. I was underwhelmed by him overall. Kakko and Chytil were the standouts on that line. He also scored in the shootout but wasn’t all that noticeable the rest of the game. Campbell was brutal too they gave up a 4 goal lead and lost in the shootout. I thought they should have started Skinner since Campbell crapped the bed against Detroit. 

[RWJC]

On 8/23/2023 at 4:39 PM, shiznak said:

I’m kind of surprised Chicago didn’t give him an offer sheet with the amount of picks they have.

 

Lafreniere, Bedard, and Hall would have made a pretty decent first line.

Lafreniere will be traded by or during next season if he doesn’t show significant progress throughout this year.  No doubt in my mind. 
And we will be in on him but lose out to either a west coast US team or PIT.

*takes another bong rip*
 

 

[N4ZZY]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:13 PM, Bob.Loblaw said:

They developed Chytil and Kreider just fine.  Their defence and goaltending had even better results (Norris+Vezina).

 

Hard to pinpoint what went sideways with those two.

maybe those two guys just weren't very good. can dominate other kids their age of course, as most of these prospects do, but just because you can do it at that level, doesn't necessarily translate to the NHL. Guess we'll see if Laf can break through or not.