Mercogliano Alexis Lafrenière: Inside a Rangers Breakout Season That Has Been Years in the Making

[Phil]

Quote

"It’s like the matrix," Kreider said. "He sees things I can’t see."

The No. 1 overall pick from the 2020 NHL Draft has long had the reputation as a savant − a special prospect whose offensive instincts and playmaking ability set him apart from many of his peers − but he hasn't had the results to back it up until recently.

Now in his fourth season with the Rangers, the perception of Lafrenière as some kind of bust or disappointment has been steadily crumbling.

 

Quote

"It’s probably a little unfair at times to expect someone at that age to come in and be a superstar, but the one thing I've noticed about him over the course of the years is his attitude has never wavered," Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. "You can kind of go one of two ways when you go through struggles in your career, but his attitude coming to the rink has always been so good. Now he's blossomed into this player that he is this year. I don't think it's a surprise to anyone, but it's not easy to get there."

 

Quote

A variety of factors contributed to this jump, which lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, discussed with several teammates and other people close to Lafrenière. They include, but are not limited to, increased responsibility and usage, fierce competitiveness and an offseason spent developing what trainer and strength coach Stéphane Dubé referred to as "separation speed." But it all starts with the power of self-belief.

 

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Lafrenière's on-ice talent was evident from the start, but it's been a slow buildup to overcome what Dubé described as "a lack of strength" in his younger years.

The biggest leap in that department occurred this past offseason. Part of that was natural maturation for an athlete who only turned 22 in October, but there was also a concerted effort to hone specific parts of his lower body that affect his skating.

 

Quote

Through an intense regime of weight training, power skating, stretching and healthy diet, they measured a strength increase of "close to 30%" in Lafrenière's quads from the beginning of the offseason until the time he left for Rangers' training camp.

 

https://www.lohud.com/story/sports/nhl/rangers/2024/04/04/alexis-lafreniere-ny-rangers-breakout-season-has-been-years-in-the-making/73183500007/

[Vodka Drunkenski]

Would easily have 30+/60+ if he had legit PP time.

Edited April 4 by Vodka Drunkenski

[Ozzy]

I am so glad we had the patience with him.  The kid's been absolutely sensational this year!  I had my doubts too, but I always believed in him.

[RangersIn7]

3 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

I am so glad we had the patience with him.  The kid's been absolutely sensational this year!  I had my doubts too, but I always believed in him.

He clearly needed to get stronger in some areas and work on and improve in some areas.

That takes effort which he put in and it takes time too.

Your body at that age is still growing and developing in ways. Your capacity at 18-19 isn’t what it is at 21-22. 
 

He also needed to play more. 

[Pete]

Pretty remarkable turnaround. 

 

The biggest thing for me is that he's finally establishing an identity and showing what he's actually good at. His first 3 years in the league there was no "there" there, there had only been a handful of instances that you could point to and say "this is what this kid's capable of". That's no longer the case, and his play without the puck has been much better and much more consistent. 

 

If I was to be hyper critical, I would be wondering why it took them 3 years to take apart his stride and put it back together, as it was evident from day one in the league that he was a step behind everyone, but he's here now and that's all that matters. 

[RangersIn7]

4 minutes ago, Pete said:

Pretty remarkable turnaround. 

 

The biggest thing for me is that he's finally establishing an identity and showing what he's actually good at. His first 3 years in the league there was no "there" there, there had only been a handful of instances that you could point to and say "this is what this kid's capable of". That's no longer the case, and his play without the puck has been much better and much more consistent. 

 

If I was to be hyper critical, I would be wondering why it took them 3 years to take apart his stride and put it back together, as it was evident from day one in the league that he was a step behind everyone, but he's here now and that's all that matters. 

Yes.

And all fair.

 

Seems though, maybe more than anything, it was the strength side of it. Particularly as it related to his skating, but still about strength.

 

Again, he may not have had the capacity at 19 or so that has now 3 years later to add some strength and mass. 
 

Clearly he needed some assistance and the right trainer and program and to do the work. 
 

He’s done that and it’s paying off and he’s only 22 and improving. 

[Pete]

4 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

Yes.

And all fair.

 

Seems though, maybe more than anything, it was the strength side of it. Particularly as it related to his skating, but still about strength.

 

Again, he may not have had the capacity at 19 or so that has now 3 years later to add some strength and mass. 
 

Clearly he needed some assistance and the right trainer and program and to do the work. 
 

He’s done that and it’s paying off and he’s only 22 and improving. 

Yea, hard to say from the article. Hip mobility and stride length can be worked on at any point, and stride length is pretty critical to skating efficiency overall.

 

It just goes to show you how an extra second to make a play, created by getting just a step quicker, makes all the difference in the world. Like they said in the article, many of these skaters have similar top end speed. Once somebody gets a step on you it's incredibly hard to catch them stride for stride (unless there are other factors at play, like lenght of shift and if somebody is fresher than the guy they're chasing).

 

Kakko...take notice. He's on the verge of breaking out as well, he just doesn't have that separation speed, and Laf is proof that it's obtainable over the summer.

Edited April 4 by Pete

[Ozzy]

Kakko is next up!

 

If Kakko hits the Laffy training program, it's going to be a wild ride here for the next 10 years!

[Sharpshooter]

Kind of insane that he's in the range of 30 goals and 60 points with basically no PP time. I was never in the 'he's a bust' bandwagon, but it had been disheartening to not really see him improve, or want to improve. His body language wasn't the best. This season has been a complete 180, he's been insanely good. I'm excited to see where he'll go from here. As the years go on, they're going to need him to be good. Panarin and Zibanejad aren't getting any younger. You could argue that Mika has kind of peaked already and might be starting to steadily decline.

[Morphinity 2.0]

It's wild we're here talking like this after that preseason. I guess that's a lesson to us all.

[Sharpshooter]

2 minutes ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

It's wild we're here talking like this after that preseason. I guess that's a lesson to us all.

Laf is a bust and Quick is finished.

 

Oops. lol

[Ozzy]

1 minute ago, Morphinity 2.0 said:

It's wild we're here talking like this after that preseason. I guess that's a lesson to us all.

 

Yes...

The patience test.........PASSED!  

 

It's a shame it's taken me over 50 years of rooting for this team to understand the need for patience with young players.

[BrooksBurner]

Lafreniere's issue was always training. He was lacking foot speed, acceleration, separation, stamina, etc. It was talked about all summer, and it was clear from game 1 he had improved those things significantly. The talent was already there but couldn't be showcased - like having the engine of a Pinto inside a Mustang.

 

Kakko's issue isn't physical training. We've said for about 4 years now, since after his rookie season, how he has done all the right stuff to improve physically and be ready. That's why so many had been clamoring for a break out from him. Occasional plays and spurts are there, check that snipe last night as a prime example, but he may never figure it out or have the confidence to be consistently good every night. His issue is between the ears and that's not an easy problem to get past.

[Scott]

Congrats to Laf, he's done a helluva job so far this season in comparison to everything else he'd shown up until this season. Playing with Panarin has worked in building the kid up and clearly is playing with supreme confidence. Hopefully he continues down this new path. In the meantime this crow taste like Bella Hadid sitting squarely on my face

 

It's somewhat odd to see his +/- compared to his linemates? Just one of those things - that many empty net goal ice time minutes for Bread and Tro?  Really surprised to see Bread and Tro as good as they are, seems like for as good as they are in the O-zone they're a trainwreck at times running around and getting scorched in the D-zone. Regardless as a whole they've carried this team all season offensively.

 

Panarin - (+18)

Tro - (+15)

Laf - (+2)

[Br4d]

1 hour ago, Sharpshooter said:

Kind of insane that he's in the range of 30 goals and 60 points with basically no PP time. I was never in the 'he's a bust' bandwagon, but it had been disheartening to not really see him improve, or want to improve. His body language wasn't the best. This season has been a complete 180, he's been insanely good. I'm excited to see where he'll go from here. As the years go on, they're going to need him to be good. Panarin and Zibanejad aren't getting any younger. You could argue that Mika has kind of peaked already and might be starting to steadily decline.

 

Mika had the 30+ dropoff that often happens.  We got lucky and Panarin decided to be a superstar this year.  Hopefully he is the glue that binds Laf to the Rangers on a long deal this off-season or next.

 

I really don't want Laf to get to any kind of free agency where other teams can talk to him.

[Pete]

1 hour ago, BrooksBurner said:

Lafreniere's issue was always training. He was lacking foot speed, acceleration, separation, stamina, etc. It was talked about all summer, and it was clear from game 1 he had improved those things significantly. The talent was already there but couldn't be showcased - like having the engine of a Pinto inside a Mustang.

 

Kakko's issue isn't physical training. We've said for about 4 years now, since after his rookie season, how he has done all the right stuff to improve physically and be ready. That's why so many had been clamoring for a break out from him. Occasional plays and spurts are there, check that snipe last night as a prime example, but he may never figure it out or have the confidence to be consistently good every night. His issue is between the ears and that's not an easy problem to get past.

His problem right now is the endless cycle. My opinion is that the endless cycling comes from him not feeling confident taking the puck to the net or getting his shot off, so he consistently makes the safest play which is dumping the puck back into the corner or behind the net. 

 

If he got some more room or an extra step to be able to take that puck to the middle and shoot it, that could be a difference maker in his game. He doesn't take shitty no angle shots, therefore the endless cycle. If he's able to get himself an angle, I think he will shoot more, which is what you saw last night. 

[Br4d]

21 minutes ago, Scott said:

Congrats to Laf, he's done a helluva job so far this season in comparison to everything else he'd shown up until this season. Playing with Panarin has worked in building the kid up and clearly is playing with supreme confidence. Hopefully he continues down this new path. In the meantime this crow taste like Bella Hadid sitting squarely on my face

 

It's somewhat odd to see his +/- compared to his linemates? Just one of those things - that many empty net goal ice time minutes for Bread and Tro?  Really surprised to see Bread and Tro as good as they are, seems like for as good as they are in the O-zone they're a trainwreck at times running around and getting scorched in the D-zone. Regardless as a whole they've carried this team all season offensively.

 

Panarin - (+18)

Tro - (+15)

Laf - (+2)

 

Laf wasn't focusing on defense until Panarin went there.  Panarin has been excellent defensively for about 20 games now.  Just top notch.

[Br4d]

1 minute ago, Pete said:

His problem right now is the endless cycle. My opinion is that the endless cycling comes from him not feeling confident taking the puck to the net or getting his shot off, so he consistently makes the safest play which is dumping the puck back into the corner or behind the net. 

 

If he got some more room or an extra step to be able to take that puck to the middle and shoot it, that could be a difference maker in his game. He doesn't take shitty no angle shots, therefore the endless cycle. If he's able to get himself an angle, I think he will shoot more, which is what you saw last night. 

 

Kakko needs to make better approaches to the net.  He is out of position with the puck more than any other Ranger.

[Br4d]

2 hours ago, RangersIn7 said:

Yes.

And all fair.

 

Seems though, maybe more than anything, it was the strength side of it. Particularly as it related to his skating, but still about strength.

 

Again, he may not have had the capacity at 19 or so that has now 3 years later to add some strength and mass. 
 

Clearly he needed some assistance and the right trainer and program and to do the work. 
 

He’s done that and it’s paying off and he’s only 22 and improving. 

 

Big difference between 19 and 22.  I was 155 pounds and extremely strong as a weightlifter at 19.  I was at 180 at 22.

[Pete]

2 minutes ago, Br4d said:

 

Kakko needs to make better approaches to the net.  He is out of position with the puck more than any other Ranger.

Explain how someone is out of position when they have the puck?

[Br4d]

3 minutes ago, Pete said:

Explain how someone is out of position when they have the puck?

 

They're skating loops with their back or side to the net below the circles as defenders close and they never get to the slot to take a shot and they never find somebody for an open shot.

 

This is Kakko 101.

Edited April 4 by Br4d

[Br4d]

Early morning editing is for the birds.

Edited April 4 by Br4d

[Ozzy]

14 minutes ago, Pete said:

His problem right now is the endless cycle. My opinion is that the endless cycling comes from him not feeling confident taking the puck to the net or getting his shot off, so he consistently makes the safest play which is dumping the puck back into the corner or behind the net. 

 

If he got some more room or an extra step to be able to take that puck to the middle and shoot it, that could be a difference maker in his game. He doesn't take shitty no angle shots, therefore the endless cycle. If he's able to get himself an angle, I think he will shoot more, which is what you saw last night. 

 

That's pretty spot on.  You get that extra 1/2 second that makes all the difference.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but at that level, a half a second is the difference between getting a shot through, past a goalie or having it blocked or swallowed up.

 

The extra step would do him a world of good.  I don't think anyone is that fast that they can't be faster/better/stronger...especially at 23 years old.

[Pete]

17 minutes ago, Br4d said:

 

They're skating loops with their back or side to the net below the circles as defenders close and they never get to the slot to take a shot and they never find somebody for an open shot.

 

This is Kakko 101.

I wouldn't call that being "out of position" but yeah, it's the endless cycle.

[Pete]

8 minutes ago, Ozzy said:

It doesn't seem like a lot, but at that level, a half a second is the difference between getting a shot through, past a goalie or having it blocked or swallowed up.

 

 

NHLNet did a breakdown on Austin Matthews release point this season and how it's coming a quarter of a second earlier than last season in certain situations. What's the result? 70 goal push.