confirmed: Alexis Lafreniere is a New York Ranger!

[Sharpshooter]

 

Toronto came close

 

I love the Hurricanes' tweet a bit below that. "You're welcome." :rofl:

[BrooksBurner]

 

Toronto came close

 

LOL I'm so used to that being the Rangers' kind of luck. It kind of doesn't feel real what happened.

[Sharpshooter]

Perhaps they move up a bit with a package involving Buch, DeAngelo, etc., plus their other first to get a crack at a really good center? With this lottery win, they have more assets. There's even less a chance guys like ADA, Buch and Strome come back.

[Sharpshooter]

LOL I'm so used to that being the Rangers' kind of luck. It kind of doesn't feel real what happened.

 

This is surreal. Two years in a row of pure luck for this franchise? It's never happened. This will be their first overall pick since 1965.

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

LOL I'm so used to that being the Rangers' kind of luck. It kind of doesn't feel real what happened.

 

I have no idea how this happened. 12.5% chance, Toronto's ball just hit the "post" TWO TIMES and then our cute little ball just sneaks in.

 

Only things is, how THE FUCK are we gonna wait for the next season? I dont even know what Im looking forward to. November? December? 2021? Its 2 months just to the draft. I want Lafreniere in a Rangers jersey NOW.

[CaptainMorganBarron]

interesting that they dropped the Rangers ball twice and never explained that remote control with 3 or more buttons on it. Why are there so many buttons? Is it because they program each button for 3 teams which is what usual lottery is?

 

[Sharpshooter]

The good luck started by bringing JD back.

[Ranger Lothbrok]

Uh. Wow.

 

Am I alone in saying I never thought I would see this in my lifetime? I screamed so loud when I saw the corner of the ball all three of my dogs hid in the bathroom lol.

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

interesting that they dropped the Rangers ball twice and never explained that remote control with 3 or more buttons on it. Why are there so many buttons? Is it because they program each button for 3 teams which is what usual lottery is?

 

 

The dropping of the ball was... weird? I guess he just missed it lol. You can see what the button's are for. He presses the green one to make the balls fall in, the blue one to make them fly around and the red one to pick one.

[CaptainMorganBarron]

So if Alexis averaged in his last season in Q 20% less points per game that Crosby did in his final QMJHL does it mean Alexis will roughly put up 20% fewer points in NHL than Crosby? which would equal to about 1.027 points per game in NHL?

[LeetchFan]

I know you can never tell, but is this guy in the Ovechkin/Crosby/McDavid class....or Alexi Yashin and lots of other #1's who were NEAR can't-misses and missed ?

[Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc]

I know you can never tell, but is this guy in the Ovechkin/Crosby/McDavid class....or Alexi Yashin and lots of other #1's who were NEAR can't-misses and missed ?

 

He?s not Crosby or Mcdavid, but he will not be a miss.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

[Drew a Penalty]

So if Alexis averaged in his last season in Q 20% less points per game that Crosby did in his final QMJHL does it mean Alexis will roughly put up 20% fewer points in NHL than Crosby? which would equal to about 1.027 points per game in NHL?

 

That's not how projections work.

[Go Blue]

Yep. Byfield isn't even the consensus second overall.

 

Imagine if we drafted George Rogers

 

Ugh

[CaptainMorganBarron]

I know you can never tell, but is this guy in the Ovechkin/Crosby/McDavid class....or Alexi Yashin and lots of other #1's who were NEAR can't-misses and missed ?

 

More like Kovalchuk/Modano/Stamkos/etc

[CaptainMorganBarron]

That's not how projections work.

 

How do they work?

[Drew a Penalty]

How do they work?

 

You're lucky I'm not a statistician. Look into NHLe. It's the closest thing there is to projecting points from junior and foreign leagues.

[Drew a Penalty]

Imagine if we drafted George Rogers

 

Ugh

 

This is a reference that is lost upon me.

[phillyb]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

[Morphinity 2.0]

From June:

 

https://theathletic.com/1883264/2020/06/25/the-no-1-pick-draft-nhl-execs-reveal-how-alexis-lafreniere-stacks-up/

 

To get a sense of how the No. 1 overall picks from the past decade compare and where Lafreniere slots in, 10 NHL executives agreed to participate in a bit of a thought exercise. The last 10 No. 1 picks were put into a pool of available players, Lafreniere was added in as an 11th option, and these executives made selections in a No. 1 overall pick draft one-by-one.

 

Just as a refresher, here’s the pool of No. 1 overall picks over the last 10 years:

 

2019: Jack Hughes

2018: Rasmus Dahlin

2017: Nico Hischier

2016: Auston Matthews

2015: Connor McDavid

2014: Aaron Ekblad

2013: Nathan MacKinnon

2012: Nail Yakupov

2011: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

2010: Taylor Hall

 

Add in Lafreniere and we had our available players.

 

Here were the results of the first (annual?) No. 1 overall pick draft:

 

...

 

3. Eastern Conference executive: Nathan MacKinnon

 

This is where it gets interesting. Not because MacKinnon is picked but because this was the first executive to seriously consider Lafreniere. Like, seriously consider it.

 

“I love MacKinnon. And he’s already done it,” he said. “I’m taking MacKinnon.”

 

But not without taking a long look at the 18-year-old who put up 112 points in 52 games with Rimouski this season.

 

“(Lafreniere) brings everything you need,” he said, explaining the decision-making process. “He has the skating, the hockey sense, the skills and the hands. And he has that enthusiasm for hockey. He LOVES the game. This guy loves hockey. It’s important to him. Sid loves hockey. Connor McDavid loves hockey. That tends to make you better. You’re passionate and love what you do. But I just love MacKinnon and that combination of power, speed and skill.”

 

4. Eastern Conference scouting director: Rasmus Dahlin

 

This was the person who really struggled with their decision. Let’s go through the thought process.

 

“It’s between Dahlin and Lafreniere for me,” he said. “If Lafreniere was a center, it wouldn’t be close. Hughes, he’s small. Nugent-Hopkins is really smart. Hischier is an interesting one, I don’t think he’s a No. 1 center. He’s more of a two. He’s a really, really good all-around player. Just a smart, two-way, skilled, low-maintenance guy. But I don’t think he’s a pure No. 1.”

 

OK, so down to Dahlin and the kid.

 

“It’s close. Given the fact that Dahlin is a No. 1 D, I would take that over the winger,” said the scout. “Take Dahlin off Buffalo and put him in Colorado, and he’s a completely different player.”

 

Got it, so it’s Dahlin.

 

But then, he started talking about Lafreniere and how much he liked him. And just how good he looked at the world junior tournament. And he made the switch, talking himself into Lafreniere. Momentarily.

 

“It’s almost like a gene the great ones have. In big moments, they step up. All the best players in the world – the top, top guys – have that. That’s the thing (Sidney) Crosby has. (Alex) Ovechkin has. It’s that ability to just say, ‘This is me. This is where I’m going to be.’ It’s that ‘It’ factor. When the game is on the line, there’s one person on the planet you want on the ice. I think Lafreniere has that,” the scout said.

 

That settles it.

 

Wait, nope.

 

“You can’t replace that 30 minute a night D,” he said. And settled on Dahlin.

5. Eastern Conference executive: Alexis Lafreniere

 

Here it is. The promise of Lafreniere was more than this executive could pass up, even with really, good established NHL players on the board – including a recent Hart Trophy winner. This executive narrowed the pick down to Lafreniere or Hughes and ultimately was so impressed with Lafreniere’s performance at the world juniors that he couldn’t pass him up.

 

“For me, the Q is one thing. The U20s, he was outstanding,” said the executive. “It was pretty amazing to see his ability to get to different places and finish. It seems like he didn’t feel any pressure, which was impressive. Hall obviously comes into play here. Hischier comes into play, but I think Lafreniere has the higher upside. He’s also not afraid to be competitive physically, which is a differentiating factor.”

 

The fact that Lafreniere is even considered in MacKinnon's orbit makes me feel all kinds of things. A lot of good stuff here.

[Sharpshooter]

#Rigged is trending on Twitter. LOL. What, did they really want Edmonton or Pittsburgh winning again?

[Phil]

#Rigged is trending on Twitter. LOL. What, did they really want Edmonton or Pittsburgh winning again?

 

Who cares? Let them eat shit.

[Keirik]

Most goals in the Q rookie season since.......Crosby. That’s good company. There is no linear projection in the Q like that though. Just look at the league leaders the years Crosby was in the Q. There legit will be guys no one has even heard of and even 50 goal scorers that go undrafted.

 

It’s all about scouting, tools, and make up of the player, not just stats.

[josh]

#Rigged is trending on Twitter. LOL. What, did they really want Edmonton or Pittsburgh winning again?

 

I've always thought the draft was rigged.

This is the first time they actually showed anything.

 

I hope it was rigged. That means the NHL has more in-store for us!

[Drew a Penalty]

Also from the Athletic but from Scott Wheeler.

 

Beyond what we know of Lafreni?re’s tools from a skills-based evaluation, there’s additional insights to be gleaned from his production relative to his peers.

 

And no matter how you chop up the data, his draft year was one of the best seasons we’ve seen in recent memory.

 

There, in the context of this year, he graded atop the CHL’s draft-eligible players in virtually every statistical category (only Marco Rossi’s 0.50 primary points per game on the power play risked surpassing him in any of the major rate stats we have available). In the context of this year, he also finished no worse than fourth in any of the rate stats among QMJHL players of all ages when you expand to include DY+1, DY+2, and DY+3 players.

 

But his track record is even more impressive relative to his peers of the last decade, where Lafreni?re’s season still ranks atop all QMJHL draft-year seasons since 2010 (ahead of names like Nathan MacKinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Nikolaj Ehlers, often by wide margins) in all but one category (Timo Meier was a slightly higher volume shooter in his draft year). And, maybe to the surprise of some, those numbers stand up well when you expand from all QMJHL draft-year seasons to all CHL draft-year seasons of the last decade, where his performances still slot ahead of additional names like Mitch Marner, Andrei Svechnikov, Taylor Hall, Tyler Seguin and Leon Draisaitl (you’ll notice that no additional shooters surpassed Lafreniere and Meier there, either).

 

The long and short of it is simple: After Connor McDavid’s 2014-15 season, Lafreni?re’s year is basically peerless. Even if you account for his advanced age, there’s probably an argument for Lafreni?re as the second-best prospect to come out of the CHL in the last 10 years.

 

It shouldn’t surprise anyone if he hits all of the major Schedule A bonuses available to rookies (20 goals, 35 assists, 60 points and 0.73 points per game are the markers). If he does, his $925K salary could balloon an additional $825K. The Rangers will have to consider that in their cap planning.

 

Link: https://theathletic.com/1986436/2020/08/10/wheeler-10-thoughts-after-the-second-phase-of-the-2020-nhl-draft-lottery/