Vitali Kravtsov's injury forces Alexis Lafreniere to move to right wing for Rangers-Wild
Alexis Lafreniere #13 of the New York Rangers takes the second period shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden during the season opening game on October 11, 2022 in New York City. Credit: Getty Images
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Whenever he’s asked about playing on the right wing, as opposed to his natural left side, Rangers forward Alexis Lafrenière always gives the same answer. It's usually along the lines of, yes, he’s always played on the left side, but no, he doesn’t mind playing on the right if that’s where the team needs him.
Well, the team needed him on the right side Thursday when the Rangers visited the Minnesota Wild at the Xcel Center in the Wild’s season opener.
An injury to Vitali Kravtsov in the first period of Tuesday’s season-opening 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning prompted coach Gerard Gallant to shift Lafrenière from left wing on the third line to right wing on the second line, with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. With Kravtsov not on the two-game road trip due to an upper-body injury, Lafrenière was back on the right with Trocheck and Panarin Thursday, which the third-year forward saw as a good opportunity.
He made the most of it in the first period. Lafreniere had a pair of primary assists — setting up goals by Adam Fox and Panarin as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead. Chris Kreider had the first goal on the power play.
“You know, you go up with them, they’re good players, they make plays,’’ Lafrenière said at the morning skate of Panarin and Trocheck. “For me, it's just switching from left side to right side, and trying to get a little used to it. And after a couple of shifts, a couple of games, I already feel more comfortable.’’
It’s been widely assumed that Lafrenière, a left wing his entire junior and professional career, was always going to have to switch to the right side at some point. With Panarin and Chris Kreider occupying the top two left wing spots in the lineup, Lafrenière, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, was going to have to move to the right in order to get onto one of the top two lines.
When training camp began, Lafrenière started on the third line, as Gallant initially tried to keep his best line from last year’s playoffs – the Kid Line of Lafrenière, Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko – together. But when the Kid Line proved to be the Rangers’ best line in the preseason, Gallant moved Kakko to the top line with Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. Initially, he tried to keep Lafrenière with Chytil, while Kravtsov got an extended look with Panarin and Trocheck. But when Kravtsov got hurt, Gallant put Lafrenière with Panarin and Trocheck, which was something the coach said he always intended to try at some point, anyway.
And he liked what he saw.
“He was good,’’ Gallant said of Lafrenière on the second line. “We all know he'd prefer left wing, but he's going to go to the right side and he'll play well there and do a job.’’
As a lefthanded shot playing the right wing, Lafrenière said he does have to accept and make passes with his backhand often. But the bigger thing, he said, is having to remind himself to skate back down the right side when he has to track back on defense. The benefit of doing it, though, is that he gets to play in the top two lines, which means more ice time, and he gets to play with the supremely gifted Panarin.
“You always have to be ready,’’ he said of playing with Panarin. “You think sometimes he doesn't see you, but he sees everything. So just be ready, be at the net, and be good on the forecheck. I think, if I forecheck well, and I get pucks to him, I think that's going to help him a lot. And the more he has the puck, the better, I think, we have a chance to have a good shift.’’
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.
