Brooks Alexis Lafreniere's Finishing Touch Has Evaporated in Growing Rangers Problem

[RangersIn7]

3 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

I know. I was just being sarcastic with Pete's comment. lol

 

I don't think he will be elite, though, but I do think he'll wind up being very good. Perhaps a bust for a first overall, but very good for a first rounder. He's had some bad luck or else he'd have a lot more goals and production this season. I think it's coming, and he's only 22 years old. He wasn't put in a traditional rebuild situation as most first overall picks are. That hasn't helped either. Realistically he'd be getting more PP time, but it can be difficult playing on a team with Panarin and Mika.

I think he’s a 70+ point player, who plays a good all around game, and is nasty and difficult to play against when all is said and done.

 

That, to me, is an elite player. 

[Albatrosss]

we see his passing, his positional play in the o-zone, and his hockey IQ every night.  I think its just a matter of time until he puts it all together at this level and starts putting up excellent numbers.  But of course haters will find a way to hate.

[RangersIn7]

36 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

we see his passing, his positional play in the o-zone, and his hockey IQ every night.  I think its just a matter of time until he puts it all together at this level and starts putting up excellent numbers.  But of course haters will find a way to hate.

And that’s pretty much the crux of it.

 

We just want what we want instantly. And we don’t get it… oh… he’s a bust. At 22. 
 

Fuck off with that.

Shit takes however long it takes.

[Albatrosss]

12 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

And that’s pretty much the crux of it.

 

We just want what we want instantly. And we don’t get it… oh… he’s a bust. At 22. 
 

Fuck off with that.

Shit takes however long it takes.

thats right!! and mine usually takes 30 mins

[Br4d]

Laf has an All-Star mind attached to a 3rd line body.  At the moment that's just what it is.

[Pete]

I think people need to understand the definition of elite. It means your part of a group of people who are the best at a specific thing.

 

That is unlikely to be him in any category.

 

And that's okay. Just don't throw around adjectives like "elite" willy nilly. 

 

We all have high hopes that he becomes a very good player at his position, but it's unlikely that he ever becomes the best of the best. 

 

 

[Albatrosss]

3 minutes ago, Pete said:

I think people need to understand the definition of elite. It means your part of a group of people who are the best at a specific thing.

 

That is unlikely to be him in any category.

 

And that's okay. Just don't throw around adjectives like "elite" willy nilly. 

 

We all have high hopes that he becomes a very good player at his position, but it's unlikely that he ever becomes the best of the best. 

 

 

No one here called Laf an elite player.  Come down, willy nilly. 

 

ever heard of Histrionic Personality Disorder? 

[Albatrosss]

5 minutes ago, Br4d said:

Laf has an All-Star mind attached to a 3rd line body.  At the moment that's just what it is.

what does that even mean?  

[Br4d]

5 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

what does that even mean?  

 

It means he's missing the step that would let him take it past NHL D to the net consistently.  It means he's got inconsistent hands and is as likely to fumble a great set up as to finish it.  Lately he fumbles it a lot more often than finishing.  It means that he's an easy check coming into the zone and often loses the puck trying to enter.  Panarin covers him a lot on this because he has no trouble getting in and dishing it off.  It means that despite having a good wrister he rarely manages to get it off because of all of the above.

 

I'd love it if he was ready to go right now but the reality is he has a bunch of stuff to work on and we don't know if his off-season work ethic is up to the task.

 

BTW, you know what probably put him off deflecting in front of the net?  It was the shot that Chytil put in a great place and he deflected to the post early on.  We haven't seen him with the same confidence in front of the net since then.

Edited January 29 by Br4d

[Ozzy]

14 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

thats right!! and mine usually takes 30 mins

 

More fiber, my man!!!

[Cash or Czech]

2 hours ago, Br4d said:

 

This is true and it is a reflection of how ineffective the Rangers are at EVS over that span.

 

While that may be true, it also means Lafreniere is in fact top-6 quality for our team and would benefit from having top-6 PP minutes with a PP unit that doesn't consist of a retirement home and AHL plugs.

Edited January 29 by Cash or Czech

[Albatrosss]

2 minutes ago, Br4d said:

 

It means he's missing the step that would let him take it past NHL D to the net consistently.  It means he's got inconsistent hands and is as likely to fumble a great set up as to finish it.  Lately he fumbles it a lot more often than finishing.  It means that he's an easy check coming into the zone and often loses the puck trying to enter.  Panarin covers him a lot on this because he has no trouble getting in and dishing it off.  It means that despite having a good wrister he rarely manages to get it off because of all of the above.

 

I'd love it if he was ready to go right now but the reality is he has a bunch of stuff to work on and we don't know if his off-season work ethic is up to the task.

i just dont see what you see.  

[Br4d]

1 minute ago, Cash or Czech said:

 

While that may be true, it also means Lafreniere is in fact top-6 quality and would benefit from having top-6 PP minutes with a PP unit that doesn't consist of a retirement home and AHL plugs.

 

I definitely think he would benefit from PP1 usage at this point.  He's still not a good top-6 player and more PP minutes isn't going to change that.

 

One of the things that is really different this year than in earlier years for him is who he is playing with.  Panarin handles passes from him that few other NHL players would handle and probably nobody else on the Rangers.  These are great passes that are above the level that most players can manage.  Adam Fox can flag them down but his mentality is exactly that: flag them down and cycle off of them.  Panarin gets good shots off of them and scores goals.  Last year Kakko was the guy getting those passes and he scored a few goals off of them but he had real trouble doing anything with most of them.  It would be no different this year.

 

The poster boy pass here is the 60 footer from the blue line to the opposite circle that Panarin buried before the goal keeper could react.  Anybody else that gets that pass except for Mika probably has trouble handling it.  Mika likely misses a one-timer if he handles it.  Panarin had the skill to time it just right, handle it perfectly and score.  That's a highlight moment for Laf but it took a great player on the other end to make it so.

[Pete]

29 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

No one here called Laf an elite player.  Come down, willy nilly. 

 

ever heard of Histrionic Personality Disorder? 

 

You said he's becoming elite. That just pretty much shows you don't know what the word elite means. 

 

I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis though. Hopefully your medication helps. 

Edited January 29 by Pete

[Br4d]

5 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

i just dont see what you see.  

 

I watch Laf more closely than any other player.  I've been doing this since late in the season last year when it was apparent that whatever breakthrough happened in the 2022 playoffs hadn't stuck around for last season.  I spent most of the summer watching his junior footage because it just made no sense that he was having the difficulties he has been having.

 

One thing that became apparent watching all the old tape is that Laf was a playmaker, not a scorer.  He scored a lot of goals in junior because he was the ultimate garbage man in front of the net and because he was able to go to the net frequently with possession, often giving and going for a goal. 

 

There were other things that were interesting in retrospect.  Laf wasn't the live wire on the ice most of the time.  When somebody directly scored off of one of his passes, and this happened a lot, Laf was often missing from the hug at the end.  Long pass, shot, score and the guys down low are clinching while Laf was off doing his own thing.  When he scored or was close to the goal he was in and when he wasn't he wasn't.  No idea what that was but it was there.

 

This season we see Panarin going out of his way to acknowledge Laf when he does something good.  We see Panarin and Trocheck moving towards him for the clinch and he winds up in the middle a lot because that's what happens when your teammates are making a huge effort to make sure you are part of the celebration.

 

Anyway, the quality that Laf is most missing right now is that first step.  He can't get around the D for a shot.  He doesn't breakaway at the rate that a guy hanging at the blueline in the DZ should.  He can't get around the guy checking him at the blueline.  Guys catch up to him when he has the puck in the neutral zone.  This is thing one he needs to fix if he's going to become a great player.  He had it in junior where guys just don't skate consistently well the way the NHL does.

[Vodka Drunkenski]

People spend their summers vacationing, this guy spends his scouting on YouTube 

[Br4d]

11 minutes ago, Vodka Drunkenski said:

People spend their summers vacationing, this guy spends his scouting on YouTube 

 

Well the guy had maybe 30 hours of tape available so it's not like I spent all that much time on it. 

[RangersIn7]

This whole conversation and thread has taken a hard left turn into Assholeville.

[Albatrosss]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

 

You said he's becoming elite. That just pretty much shows you don't know what the word elite means. 

 

I'm sorry to hear about your diagnosis though. Hopefully your medication helps. 

i said close to becoming elite, not that he's becoming elite.   there's a difference

[Scott]

Elite?  He's playing with one of the hottest guys in the league who's on a mission this season, Panarin is elite, Laf being "close to elite" is when he's standing or sitting next to Bread. For now while his game has definitely improved, there's still a high number of woulda,shoulda, coulda but in the end not delivered.  Will he continue to improve? Skating wise I doubt it at least significantly. Has he reached his ceiling, no. Do we know what his ceiling is, no. Is he benefiting greatly by playing with one of the best and Tro who's having a career year without question.

 

For now would he be a lesser player without the benefit of playing with Bread and Tro, I think so and drastically.  His inability to finish on any kind of consistent basis is an issue. Will he outgrow it? Maybe, hopefully. 

 

Elite? that's funny at this stage.

 

#ChinStrapMafia

 

Not at you @Albatrosss

Edited January 29 by jsrangers

[Albatrosss]

2 minutes ago, jsrangers said:

Elite?  He's playing with one of the hottest guys in the league who's on a mission this season, Panarin is elite, Laf being "close to elite" is when he's standing or sitting next to Bread. For now while his game has definitely improved, there's still a high number of woulda,shoulda, coulda but in the end not delivered.  Will he continue to improve? Skating wise I doubt it at least significantly. Has he reached his ceiling, no. Do we know what his ceiling is, no. Is he benefiting greatly by playing with one of the best and Tro who's having a career year without question.

 

For now would he be a lesser player without the benefit of playing with Bread and Tro, I think so and drastically.  His inability to finish on any kind of consistent basis is an issue. Will he outgrow it? Maybe, hopefully. 

 

Elite? that's funny at this stage.

 

#ChinStrapMafia

 

Not at you @Albatrosss

i take everything you say personally, and i will file a formal complaint.

 

Ranger Ed

[Pete]

3 minutes ago, Albatrosss said:

i said close to becoming elite, not that he's becoming elite.   there's a difference

Correct. But he's not close to becoming elite, based on the word's definition.

 

He's not approaching, nor will he ever reach, the highest level of the sport. He's becoming a very good player and that's good enough.

[Pete]

6 minutes ago, jsrangers said:

Elite?  He's playing with one of the hottest guys in the league who's on a mission this season, Panarin is elite, Laf being "close to elite" is when he's standing or sitting next to Bread. For now while his game has definitely improved, there's still a high number of woulda,shoulda, coulda but in the end not delivered.  Will he continue to improve? Skating wise I doubt it at least significantly. Has he reached his ceiling, no. Do we know what his ceiling is, no. Is he benefiting greatly by playing with one of the best and Tro who's having a career year without question.

 

For now would he be a lesser player without the benefit of playing with Bread and Tro, I think so and drastically.  His inability to finish on any kind of consistent basis is an issue. Will he outgrow it? Maybe, hopefully. 

 

Elite? that's funny at this stage.

 

#ChinStrapMafia

Legit lol'd at this.

[Vodka Drunkenski]

Panarin is the only elite talent on this team

[Br4d]

1 minute ago, Vodka Drunkenski said:

Panarin is the only elite talent on this team

 

Fox could be elite but he doesn't rush or shoot enough for that to stand out at this point.  Maybe if he gets more assertive as he matures.