Rangers rookie Alexis Lafreniere impresses Chris Kreider, David Quinn on first day of camp

The first day of Rangers training camp brought the first look at No. 1 overall draft pick Alexis Lafreniere with the full team, and if the 19-year-old’s new teammates are to be believed, fans are going to enjoy watching the native of Saint-Eustache, Quebec, this season.

"You forget how young he is because he carries himself with such maturity,’’ forward Chris Kreider said Monday after the team’s first on-ice workouts. "I’ve played with him a bunch [in the weeks leading up to training camp], and his skill is very, very evident. He’s got the thing on a string, sees the ice incredibly well, heads up.

"One thing that really struck me in the past few weeks, though, is he’s not an immature kid,’’ Kreider said. "He carries himself with that level of maturity. But he’s a lot bigger than the normal 18- or 19-year-old kid [listed at 6-2, 193 pounds]. Very strong on his skates. And he’s a dog on the puck . . . He’s hyper-competitive and he wants to win.’’

Said coach David Quinn, "You can see he plays fast, he’s got his head up, strong on his skates, competes hard, and he’s got world-class talent.’’

Quinn, who is beginning his third season as Rangers coach, was asked if there was anything he learned last season from working with Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 overall pick in 2019, that he can carry over to help coach Lafreniere this season.

"Every player’s different,’’ he said. "You certainly learn, as you go along coaching all types of different players, what you can maybe apply to other people. But there’s really no blueprint to coach each player, whether they’re a rookie or a 30-year-old veteran.

"It’s our job as a coaching staff to figure out a way to coach Lafreniere to the best of our abilities and to allow him to be the best player he can possibly be.’’

In his first training camp scrimmage, the left wing started out on what has the look of a third line with center Filip Chytil and right wing Julien Gauthier, who, like Lafreniere, is French-Canadian. He said he had to get over some nerves.

"For sure . . . there’s a little bit of nerves playing with these guys,’’ Lafreniere said. "But I think I’ll get used to it and then get used to the pace. And I think I’ll get better as the camp goes and I’ll try to improve myself and my game.’’

Quinn said "managing pressure, managing expectation, managing the outside noise’’ will be the most important thing for Lafreniere.

"These kids have such pressure on from the minute they get to this level,’’ Quinn said. "No one’s gonna have more pressure on him, whether it be self-induced or from social media or whatever.’’

Lafreniere, who had 35 goals and 77 assists in 52 games last season for Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and led Canada to the gold medal at the World Junior Championships, became the second player — following Sidney Crosby — to be named a two-time Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year and a two-time QMJHL Player of the Year.

When asked what expectations he has for himself, Lafreniere downplayed the question.

"I just want to improve myself every day and get better as a hockey player,’’ he said. "I don’t have any expectations. I just want to play the best hockey I can play and be better than I was yesterday. That’s always something that I’m trying to work on, and I’ll keep going with that mentality.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.