Debates around Lafreniere versus Kreider may not be the issue here. Looking around the league, you can see that the 2020 draft class got railroaded by COVID game loss, and they're just figuring it out now. Stutzle and Lundell were the exceptions - and the reason is clear - they played overseas during the pandemic and didn't "lose the season" the way others did.
The 2020 class went off this year. Lafreniere, obviously, but Byfield, Raymond, Jarvis, Peterka, and maybe one or two others really made big impact steps forward. Then there are guys like Schneider, Guhle, Sanderson on D, and a few goalies to come, but it feels like this class was a year behind the curve.