It wasn’t too long ago — three months to be exact — that the New York Rangers were celebrating the fact they signed Alexis Lafreniere to a long-term contract, locking him up through the 2031-32 season.
Now, celebration has been replaced by concern.
The 23-year-old forward has gone from rising NHL star to a major question mark, and a big reason why the Rangers have underachieved greatly this season.
“There has to be so much more to his game than he’s showing,” NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen told Forever Blueshirts on the latest Rink Rap podcast. “When you’re playing with those two guys in [Artemi] Panarin and [Vincent] Trocheck, you should be generating more, you should have better chances. He ha done right at the post against Carolina (in a 4-0 loss Tuesday), didn’t go in, great safe by Freddy Andersen, but those are few and far between for him.
“And that’s alarming.”
Lafreniere has four goals in his past 23 games, including two against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 7. That means since Nov. 21, he’s scored at least once in three games.
After breaking out with an NHL career-high 28 goals and 57 points last season, and starting this season with four goals and seven points in the first 10 games, Lafreniere’s production has cratered. Equally as important, there have been large swaths of game action when he is not noticeable.
That’s a stunning development after the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft stepped up in a big way during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, especially in the Eastern Conference Final when most of his teammates were invisible. All signs pointed to a star on the rise after he tied for the Rangers lead with eight goals in 16 postseason games.
Not so fast.
“I think Alexis’ game is far more alarming than Mika [Zibanejad’s] game,” Rosen stated, referring to the veteran center who’s been under fire all season. “Mika’s at least been doing things that help the team by preventing top guys (on other teams) from doing things.”
Coach Peter Laviolette has also praised Zibanejad for taking on the responsibility of shutting down top opposing centers. Of course, Zibanejad is also minus-25 this season, so there’s that. But Lafreniere is poor defensively, even for someone not tasked to defend other teams’ top guns.
Lafreniere is minus-13 this season after being on for three Carolina goals Tuesday night. That’d be bad enough if he was producing offensively alongside Panarin and Trocheck. But a recent mini four-game point streak (two goals, two assists) aside, Lafreniere is not producing at an expected high level. He has 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists) in 50 games.
“‘Laf’ is not doing as much. And why is that? I really don’t know,” Rosen said. “You would’ve hoped to see the step up in his game from last year. Last year, you saw the step up in his game. But now everyone took notes, so that’s when it gets harder. And the really great ones step up to that challenge when it gets harder and they get better. And it hasn’t happened for him.”
Alexis Lafreniere must find way to not be ‘stuck’ in his game with Rangers
Lafreniere’s faced questions about his production before. In fact, there were calls for him to be traded after he topped out at 39 points in his third NHL season because he wasn’t living up to the billing as a No. 1 overall draft pick.
Then last season happened. Lafreniere found magic playing on a line with Panarin and Trocheck. Each recorded NHL career-highs in points, including Panarin finishing with 120 points, second most in Rangers history.
There was never a doubt that those three would remain together this season. But the results have not been nearly as explosive as 2023-24. Panarin still leads the Rangers with 20 goals and 52 points; Trocheck is tied for second with 15 goals and is third with 32 points; and Lafreniere is fourth with 30 points. But their individual and collective production is way down. And they don’t feel as dangerous shift-in, shift out nor game-in, game-out.
“I’m not ready to give up on [Lafreniere] by any stretch of the imagination. I think he earned the contract he got (seven years, $52.15 million), to be honest with you … there needs to be a greater level of maturity to his game in the sense of you’ve got to grow beyond the challenge that you’re facing now.
“That to me is where he’s stuck now.”
