Colin Stephenson: Are Rangers finally getting the real Alexis Lafreniere, the guy they drafted No. 1 overall?
Fans throw hats onto the ice in celebration of Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere's hat trick against the Calgary Flames during the third period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. Credit: AP/Angelina Katsanis
Alexis Lafreniere has been on a heater, no doubt. He entered Saturday’s game at Minnesota with goals in three straight games – including his second career hat trick Tuesday against the Calgary Flames – and points in six of eight games since the Olympic break.
With seven goals and five assists in those eight games, Lafreniere entered Saturday with 19 goals and 25 assists in 65 games this season, numbers that project to 24 goals, 32 assists (which would be a career-high) and 56 points over 82 games. That would be right in line with his career year two seasons ago.
The question now for the Rangers is whether this is the real Alexis Lafreniere, the one they have been waiting on for six years. Because the success of their current "retool" could hinge on whether it is or it isn’t.
Clearly, Lafreniere is not the generational star he was expected to be when he was the No. 1 overall selection in the 2020 draft. But at 24, there’s still time for him to show that he is at least a legitimate top-six wing who can be an important piece of the Rangers’ core moving forward. If he can deliver 20-30 goals, and 50-60 points every season, the Rangers can build around that, and this current stretch shows that he has the talent.
Now, though, it’s about sustaining that level, which he hasn’t yet been able to do.
He had a stretch similar to this one during the 2023-24 season, when he had career-highs in goals (28), assists (29) and points (57). He had points in seven of nine games from March 14-30, including his first career hat trick (Mar. 30 at Arizona).
Everyone hoped that season would be a springboard for Lafreniere to finally start living up to expectations, but he regressed last season. After a fast start, which earned him a seven-year, $52.15 million contract extension, he finished with 17 goals and 45 points. And this season didn’t start off so great, either; he had just 12 goals and 32 points through 57 games at the break, which projected to 17 goals and 46 points over 82 games.
But a few things have fallen into place for Lafreniere that have provided him with opportunity. After the Feb. 4 trade of Artemi Panarin to the L.A. Kings, he was bumped up to the first power-play unit, and the upper-body injury to J.T. Miller (who was expected to return Saturday against the Wild) got him bumped up to a scorching first line, with Mika Zibanejad and red-hot rookie Gabe Perreault.
Coach Mike Sullivan has to get some credit for Lafreniere’s improvement this season, too. All season long, Sullivan has talked about Lafreniere needing to get to the front of the net, and the coach installed him in the net-front spot on the power play. Now, the 6-2, 191-pound Lafreniere seems to be getting comfortable playing in front of the net. His even-strength goal Thursday against Winnipeg came on a nifty tip from the slot area of a Will Borgen shot, and the first of his three goals Tuesday came on a tip of a Zibanejad shot on a five-on-three power play.
“I feel like the more reps you get, the more comfortable you become,’’ Lafreniere said Tuesday night. “I'm still trying to work on it and get better every game, and just try and move around and be at the net as much as I can.’’
“One of the things that we've tried to encourage Laf to do a little bit more of, was finding ways to create offense different ways,’’ Sullivan said Tuesday. “He's a dangerous player off the rush, because he has great offensive instincts and he has the ability to see it, and make plays. And he has finishing ability when he's on the receiving end of those plays.
“But I think he's adding a dimension to his game, and we'll call it the ‘grind’ game, where he can create offense underneath the hash marks, or from below the goal line, or getting inside, whether it be net-front tips, deflections, rebounds, things of that nature.’’
The Rangers, who had won three straight and were on a 5-1-2 post-Olympics run going into Saturday, may not be in the playoff chase, but they are playing well. They are getting world-class goaltending from Igor Shesterkin, Perreault seems to be blossoming into a star, and Zibanejad is looking again like the driven, two-way, top-six center he wasn’t during a miserable 2024-25 season.
If Miller can bounce back from an injury-plagued season this year, and GM Chris Drury and Sullivan can lift Adam Fox’s mood and convince him to stick around, it’s possible they may not be as far away from turning things around as some think.
If Drury can make one or two positive additions to the roster, if everyone stays healthy, and if Lafreniere can produce, there’s a chance the Rangers could back in business quicker than most people expect.
It’s a lot of ifs, to be sure. But it’s not impossible, especially if Lafreniere does his part.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
