Rangers scribe ‘buying’ Alexis Lafreniere resurgence, but there’s a catch

Kind of, been here, seen that.

“I’m buying it,” Newsday beat reporter Colin Stephenson told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast.

But before you get too excited, Stephenson added this part.

“I’m buying he can be 25-30 goals, and 55-60 points, which is a fringe top-six player. And surrounded by the right talent, he can be effective for you. I think that’s his ceiling.”

Well, that’s disappointing to hear. Because the Rangers and their angst-ridden fanbase surely have visions of Lafreniere taking off and scoring, oh say, 35 goals and recording 70-75 points — at least — next season. After all, he’s just tapping into all that talent, right? And you may have heard he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

“I think what he was at the end of this season [is Lafreniere’s ceiling], because it’s two out of the past three years where he’s mid-20s in goals and high-50s in points. So, I think that’s where he’s going to be, and I don’t expect anything more than that from him,” Stephenson said flatly.

What spurred Alexis Lafreniere resurgence with Rangers?

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Ironically, Lafreniere took off after the Rangers dealt his most frequent linemate, Panarin, away. It was hard to ignore the terrific chemistry he had on New York’s top line with Zibanejad and rookie Gabe Perreault over the final seven weeks or so.

Lafreniere became a consistent net-front presence, and had quite a bit of success scoring off deflections in front, and generating rebound chances for himself and others — very similar to Chris Kreider’s role for years on Broadway. He scored seven of his nine power-play goals over the final 28 games, another big reason that Lafreniere’s overall production spiked.

Was there any correlation to Lafreneiere’s increased productivity and Panarin’s departure?

“Did Panarin leaving have something to do with him stepping up, so to speak? I don’t think that’s it, no,” Stephenson said. “I think (coach) Mike Sullivan made an emphasis on this guy to get to the front of the net, he did it, he had success, that’s part of his game now, and I think that’s what I would say led to his breakout, if you will, turnaround, whatever you want to call it, more so than that Panarin left. Panarin used to spoon-feed him a lot two years ago. So, Panarin was good for him that season. So, I don’t believe Panarin leaving helps him.”

Lafreniere’s expected goal share 5v5 was a career-best 53.45 percent this season, per Natural Stat Trick, best among all regular Rangers forwards and second behind defenseman Adam Fox (58.63 percent) overall.

Perhaps the best sign for good things to come is that Lafreniere believes this isn’t the best he can be.

“I feel like I can take a step. I like my second half, but I can be even better, so that’s kind of my mindset for next year.”

Stephenson doesn’t quite see that, though. It’s up to Lafreniere to prove that there’s a much higher level yet for him to reach in the NHL. And next season is a good time to prove that.

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