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Former Rangers coach explains Alexis Lafreniere power-play usage
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- Former Rangers coach explains Alexis Lafreniere power-play usage
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Power-play time was one of the many hurdles Alexis Lafreniere faced during his development with the New York Rangers organization.
Despite being taken No. 1 overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, Lafreniere largely struggled to land a consistent role on the Rangers' top power-play unit. That continued even under Peter Laviolette, who coached New York in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
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"I had a lot of conversations with Laf. I mean, you're talking about guys that were at a higher offensive level," Laviolette explained Tuesday on the Tri-State Hockey Podcast. "And that's not to say that Alex couldn't be on our power play. He was at times. We tried it at times."
Lafreniere got the most power-play time of his career in 2024-25, logging 129 minutes with the extra man. But even with stints on the top unit under Laviolette, an experienced forward group of Artemi Panarin (traded to the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 4), Chris Kreider (traded to the Anaheim Ducks on June 12), Mika Zibanejad, and Vincent Trocheck made it difficult for Lafreniere to fully break through.
"Panarin is one of the top scorers in the League. Mika has been an 80- 90-point guy and a top scorer in the League. Troch is pretty good at face-offs — and so right away, you're talking about possession on the power play. He's a good man in the middle as well. He reads off that bumper position in a really good way," Laviolette noted. "I think Chris Kreider is probably the best netfront guy in the League with regard to any puck that comes in there. He probably has more tip goals on the power play, I'm guessing, than maybe anybody in the last 8-10 years."
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That forward foursome, combined with power-play quarterback Adam Fox, led New York to the third-best power-play (26.4 percent) in the League in 2023-24. The Rangers claimed the Presidents' Trophy that season with 114 points (55-23-4) and reached Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.
"I do think that Laf is a really skilled player and a really good power play guy. That opportunity didn't get presented [for] him," Laviolette said of Lafreniere, the NHL's First Star of the Week for March 9-15. "It didn't have anything to do with other than the fact that the first year, that unit operated at a really high percentage."
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Injuries and off-ice concerns contributed to a lackluster 2024-25 campaign for Laviolette's Rangers. New York finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 85 points (39-36-7), becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to miss the playoffs after winning the Presidents' Trophy the season before.
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That malaise enveloped New York's power play, which ranked fifth-worst at 17.6 percent. It didn't help that the typically prolific Zibanejad struggled to produce at his usual rate. He finished with just 62 points (20 goals, 43 assists) in 82 games and failed to score at least 10 power-play goals for the first time since 2016-17.
"The second year, still felt like Mika and his shot on the flank was still a really good option — his one timer," Laviolette reflected. "We all take a little bit of responsibility. They didn't work as well as we would have liked in the second year."
Despite Lafreniere's failure to land a consistent role on New York's top power play during his tenure, Laviolette had nothing but praise for the 24-year-old's offensive talents.
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"That's not to say that Laf isn't a first-unit guy. He is. He's a terrific hockey player," Laviolette insisted. "I believe he had his best year [in] my first year there. We moved him to the off-wing and put him with Panarin. So you know I think a lot of him because I put him with Troch and I put him with Panarin, and I didn't break them up almost ever."
Playing alongside Trocheck and Panarin, Lafreniere posted career-high marks of 28 goals and 57 points in 2023-24. He tied for the team lead with eight goals in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring four times against the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.
Exciting Rangers rookie mirroring Lafreniere's power-play path
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Under new coach Mike Sullivan, Lafreniere has played a career-high 143 minutes on the power okat through the New York's first 67 games. With the Rangers trading Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 4, Lafreniere is now a mainstay on the top power-play unit. His five power-play goals are two short of his combined total for his first five NHL seasons.
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The same cannot be said for New York's 2023 first-round pick Gabe Perreault (No. 23 overall). Perreault returned from the NHL's Olympic break with an exciting offensive stretch, putting up 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 games while playing alongside Lafreniere and Zibanejad. As captain J.T. Miller nursed an upper-body injury, Perreault got a spot on the No. 1 power-play unit.
That role was somewhat short-lived. Perreault was bounced to the second unit when Miller returned Saturday in New York's 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild .
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"Nothing's etched in stone," Sullivan said Friday, though he acknowledged that Miller is among the mainstays for the top power-play unit when healthy.
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Sullivan asserted that the decision had little to do with Perreault's play.
"I don't think he would look at it as a demotion," Sullivan offered. "Gabe is playing extremely well right now, and so we'll continue to work with him and try to help him grow and develop his game. We'll put him in situations where we think it sets him up for success."
Like Lafreniere before him, Perreault is blocked by four forwards with a longer resume of NHL success. Though he's looked stellar in March, the 20-year-old may have a tough time cracking the top unit ahead of Zibanejad, Lafreniere, Trocheck, or Miller — at least foe now.
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Then again, with the Rangers all-but-guaranteed to miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season, Perreault's path to increased power-play time could be accelerated.
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