Staple Lafreniere 'Hasn't Shown the Level of Dedication to His Offseason Work,'

[Phil]

Quote

The biggest enigma on the Rangers roster is their 2020 No. 1 pick. Lafrenière has shown some good stretches given how little ice time he gets, but the zeroes across in this season’s playoff series surely left a bad taste in Drury’s mouth, especially going into a contract summer for the restricted free agent. A huge part of whether Lafrenière succeeds in New York is on the 21-year-old, who hasn’t shown the level of dedication to his offseason work that the Rangers would like.

 

Laviolette has been historically tough on his younger players but they’ve mostly responded, especially in Nashville and Carolina. “He won’t be afraid to bench (Lafrenière) if he’s not getting what he wants,” an NHL coach who knows Laviolette said. Of course, Gallant wasn’t afraid to do it either, back in December, but after that the coach and player didn’t see eye to eye very much and it’s believed that Lafrenière was one of the Rangers who spoke up about Gallant in exit meetings.

 

A big season from Lafrenière would quiet the doubters (around the league and in the organization), cement his spot in this team’s core, and do wonders for Laviolette’s standing with the team. Best to get started on making it work.

 

https://theathletic.com/4613298/2023/06/15/new-rangers-coach-peter-laviolette-keys-successful-first-season/?source=user_shared_article

 

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This is not even remotely encouraging to read about. It's one thing to have doubt within your own organization that you can maybe, possible sorta pin on the coach. It's clear he and Gallant did not like one another, after all. But when the league is sharing those same doubts of a first overall pick... that's dangerous.

[BrooksBurner]

There's a reason we say he likes donuts and is out of shape. He probably got used to dominating juniors on low effort (off-the-ice effort to be in tip-top shape). The low effort carried over, but the dominating did not. It's disappointing to think he's essentially not changed his approach in either of the two summers he's had with the Rangers. If he whined about Gallant, and a new coach + a wake up call at the contract negotiation table doesn't trigger another level, then you get rid of him. My money is that he will be in significantly better shape come October.

Edited June 15, 2023 by BrooksBurner

[The Dude]

Bye bye. 

[RJWantsTheCup]

How shocking donut hole isn't putting the effort in.  I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see how keeping him is beneficial especially if he has any decent value left.

[BrooksBurner]

28 minutes ago, The Dude said:

Bye bye. 

Not a chance. This article doesn’t happen if they planned on trading him because it’s immediately damaging to his trade value. The team is sticking with him and, for better or worse, are going to ride his stock to 100 or 0.

[Pete]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

It's one thing to have doubt within your own organization that you can maybe, possible sorta pin on the coach. It's clear he and Gallant did not like one another, after all. But when the league is sharing those same doubts of a first overall pick... that's dangerous.

I think it's more the opposite. The league has been doubting for awhile, I'd presume. But you can always say "We're his org, we see him daily, there's a there there...."

 

But they are saying there's no there there.

[Phil]

2 minutes ago, Pete said:

I think it's more the opposite. The league has been doubting for awhile, I'd presume. But you can always say "We're his org, we see him daily, there's a there there...."

 

But they are saying there's no there there.

 

Yeah, that's probably it. It's just painful to see. First overall pick going up in smoke, right before our eyes.

[Pete]

3 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

Yeah, that's probably it. It's just painful to see. First overall pick going up in smoke, right before our eyes.

Yea, it's sad this is year 3, and we're still here with his work ethic (which was obviously in question since he came into the league huffing after 30 second shifts).

 

And it makes sense that he'd be vocal about Gallant. He came from stricter coaching in junior/Quinn, where demands were clear. Then GG rolls up and he gets "Sup fellas, let's play hard tonight."

[Phil]

With Kakko basically not hitting, either, even though he's a reliable NHL forward, there's not a lot of reason to believe in this teams' bigger picture future.

[Costa]

  

1 hour ago, BrooksBurner said:

There's a reason we say he likes donuts and is out of shape. He probably got used to dominating juniors on low effort (off-the-ice effort to be in tip-top shape). The low effort carried over, but the dominating did not. It's disappointing to think he's essentially not changed his approach in either of the two summers he's had with the Rangers. If he whined about Gallant, and a new coach + a wake up call at the contract negotiation table doesn't trigger another level, then you get rid of him. My money is that he will be in significantly better shape come October.

 

Well of course he's gonna say that. He knows no matter what he's still gonna play second & third fiddle to Ice Capades Panarin & CK20.  If he makes the slightest of errors, he's gonna ride the pine.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Costa

[Pete]

20 minutes ago, Phil said:

With Kakko basically not hitting, either, even though he's a reliable NHL forward, there's not a lot of reason to believe in this teams' bigger picture future.

If Kakko is in the top 6 with PP time, he's going to be a 60-65 point player, IMO.

[Drew a Penalty]

I called this shit.

 

This is why I'll consistently back Kakko but not Lafreniere. Kakko puts work in to visibly improve. Lafreniere does ??????

[The Dude]

54 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

Not a chance. This article doesn’t happen if they planned on trading him because it’s immediately damaging to his trade value. The team is sticking with him and, for better or worse, are going to ride his stock to 100 or 0.

Nah. It's buyers remorse and a white flag to soften the blow for the fans, when the team gets a low return in trade or doesn't match an incoming offersheet, that only compensates the Rangers with a 2nd round pick +.

 

This is kinda damning and is something that gets out there, when the team is not going to defend the players public image, because they are done with them. Just like with Kravtsov. The writing is on the wall when they put this out there. They're ready to move on. 

[Phil]

35 minutes ago, Pete said:

If Kakko is in the top 6 with PP time, he's going to be a 60-65 point player, IMO.

 

That's the hope, yes. There's scant evidence to suggest it's coming, though.

[Phil]

31 minutes ago, Drew a Penalty said:

I called this shit.

 

This is why I'll consistently back Kakko but not Lafreniere. Kakko puts work in to visibly improve. Lafreniere does ??????

 

That dance with the towel.

[Pete]

10 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

That's the hope, yes. There's scant evidence to suggest it's coming, though.

There is tons of evidence, he's staying healthy, he just put up 40 playing with 2 scrubs and no PP time, and his metrics and eye test support the growth and offensive awareness.

 

Imagine him with CK and Zib, instead of their "lite" versions? And getting PP time? That + growth = an easy 15 point jump next year, beyond that the year after.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Pete

[Pete]

1 hour ago, BrooksBurner said:

Not a chance. This article doesn’t happen if they planned on trading him because it’s immediately damaging to his trade value. The team is sticking with him and, for better or worse, are going to ride his stock to 100 or 0.

 

24 minutes ago, The Dude said:

Nah. It's buyers remorse and a white flag to soften the blow for the fans, when the team gets a low return in trade or doesn't match an incoming offersheet, that only compensates the Rangers with a 2nd round pick +.

 

This is kinda damning and is something that gets out there, when the team is not going to defend the players public image, because they are done with them. Just like with Kravtsov. The writing is on the wall when they put this out there. They're ready to move on. 

It's cute that you guys agree, but you're both still wrong.

 

Drury doesn't leak stories to the press.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Pete

[Drew a Penalty]

11 minutes ago, Phil said:

 

That's the hope, yes. There's scant evidence to suggest it's coming, though.

He put up 40 points while mostly playing 3rd line and zero PP time. He’s growing more and more confident with his decision making. I can’t see how he of all the kids doesn’t seem the most poised for a breakout.

[BrooksBurner]

32 minutes ago, Pete said:

 

It's cute that you guys agree, but you're both still wrong.

 

Drury doesn't leak stories to the press.

 

We disagreed. Dude and I not seeing eye to eye on some things this summer, but he’s still not as wrong as you always are.

 

Someone leaked “internal player interviews”. Assuming interviews consisted of Drury, the player, and who else? Gallant? I suppose we could tin foil hat this and say Gallant is sabotaging Lafreniere.

[BrooksBurner]

38 minutes ago, Drew a Penalty said:

He put up 40 points while mostly playing 3rd line and zero PP time. He’s growing more and more confident with his decision making. I can’t see how he of all the kids doesn’t seem the most poised for a breakout.

Kakko is definitely more primed to breakout than Lafreniere. I could see Lafreniere showing up completely amped up physically though. If he does, I’d wager on him.

[Pete]

4 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

We disagreed. Dude and I not seeing eye to eye on some things this summer, but he’s still not as wrong as you always are.

 

Someone leaked “internal player interviews”. Assuming interviews consisted of Drury, the player, and who else? Gallant? I suppose we could tin foil hat this and say Gallant is sabotaging Lafreniere.

You're in agreement that a story was leaked. You're both wrong.

 

Drury doesn't leak stories. Whoever leaked player information probably isn't long for the org.

[The Dude]

42 minutes ago, Pete said:

 

It's cute that you guys agree, but you're both still wrong.

 

Drury doesn't leak stories to the press.

Guess he didn't leak all the Kravtsov stuff last season. The Kane interest and eventual acquisition this season. The exit interviews. The Laviolette meetings. 

 

The Rangers do it all the time. Especially when there's going to be movement. 

[RJWantsTheCup]

Glad I never bought a Lafraniere jersey.  

[Pete]

4 minutes ago, The Dude said:

Guess he didn't leak all the Kravtsov stuff last season. The Kane interest and eventual acquisition this season. The exit interviews. The Laviolette meetings. 

 

The Rangers do it all the time. Especially when there's going to be movement. 

There's a difference between an organization intentionally leaking information, and information being leaked from a leaky organization. 

[Scott]

<========= fat bastard

 

Ermey call him out perfectly

 

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by jsrangers