Don’t expect Alexis Lafreniere to rock the boat when it comes to his lack of power-play time with the New York Rangers. The emerging NHL star is more focused on becoming a complete player than worrying if he’s going to play a bigger role with the man advantage this season.
But that doesn’t mean he’d be upset if more power-play opportunities came his way in 2024-25
“I wouldn’t mind it,” Lafreniere said Friday. “I feel like every player wants that. I don’t really care about it. I just want to compete and produce.”
Lafreniere is coming off a breakout season in 2023-24 and is deserving of more power-play opportunities. He had quite the increase in production last season when he set NHL career-highs in goals (28), assists (29), and points (57). This after struggling his first three seasons to justify being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
The 22-year-old was a force at even strength, forging a dynamic bond with linemates Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.
However, only two of his goals and four of his assists were earned on the power play. That had many hockey experts chiming in about how Lafreniere could be 40-goal scorer if he had more power-play time, as opposed to being a secondary option.
Alexis Lafreniere ready for ‘next step’ with Rangers
But here’s the thing with the Rangers’ power play, specifically the first PP unit. It’s among the best in the NHL, ranked No. 3 last season with a 26.4 percent success rate.
Also, this top unit has been together for years. So, not only is there crazy good skill with Panarin, Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Adam Fox, there’s a familiarity from several seasons of success together.
So Lafreniere appears to be on the outside looking in, a centerpiece on the PP2 unit that often waits 90 seconds to get its opportunity after the first group takes the majority of the power-play time.
But really, why would Rangers coach Peter Laviolette try to fix something that isn’t broken?
“We’ll go through training camp, and we’re going to look at different options,” Laviolette explained. “It’s a weighing and balancing thing. You’ve got a power play that ranked in the top-5, with long stretches at No. 1 in the League. You’re balancing that, but we do realize that there are new pieces, this is a new season. We’ve got new players here.”
So, maybe Laviolette spreads the wealth and creates two powerful units, giving Lafreniere a crack at PP1. There are many chances to try out new things before the start of the regular season. From training camp practices and scrimmages, to preseason games, to even games early in the regular season, it seems that the Rangers will try to maximize what they have in Lafreniere, both 5v5 and on the power play.
“It doesn’t change much,” Lafreniere explained. “When I go out there, I try to play good hockey, go out there whenever my name is called, try to play good, and help the team win.”
Lafreniere’s lack of power-play time does not diminish the fact that he has quickly become an integral piece of the Rangers’ lineup. He completed one of the most dangerous lines in the NHL last season, one in which each player established career highs in scoring and Panarin finished fourth in the NHL with 120 points.
“They were a dangerous line last year, they did a lot of good things for us,” the coach said. “I think they’re hopefully looking to build off of that. Nothing’s set in stone, but I haven’t broken that line up yet, still haven’t broken it up. The reason why is because it’s been an effective, productive line for us. They play off of each other well. They’re all a little bit different, but they all think the game the same way. They’ve proven to be successful, and it just doesn’t make sense to take that into a different direction.”
While he may not be the first look on the power play, Lafreniere is just scratching the surface of stardom in the NHL. If not now, those power-play minutes are there in his future.
“There’s still a step to take,” Lafreniere said. “I feel like I want to take that step this year and produce more, play a more complete game.”
