TAMPA, Fla. — The shock treatment the Rangers applied to Alexis Lafreniere by designating the first-overall selection of the 2020 draft as a healthy scratch in Philadelphia on April 13 in Game 75 last season had its desired effect.
Reinstated the following game at the Garden against Detroit on April 16, Lafreniere scored twice, including one off-the-circus move that stands as the winger’s signature NHL goal. He recorded four goals and a pair of assists over the final seven games of the regular season before adding two goals and two assists in the first five games of the first round against the Penguins.
The Blueshirts — and that includes the entire hierarchy that has such a significant investment in Lafreniere — can only hope for the same response from the 21-year-old third-year pro following his healthy scratch from Thursday night’s 2-1 shutout loss against the Lightning.
“It always sucks to be out of the lineup and for sure you want to play, but I’ll try to get better, work hard in practice and try and go over clips with the coaches and see what I can improve to be a better player,” Lafreniere said. “[You evaluate yourself]. Hopefully it can be a little bit like last year.”
A year ago, head coach Gerard Gallant cloaked the decision with the euphemistic, “We’re giving him a rest.” There were no such word games in advance of this one. Instead, it was, “Laffy’s out tonight.”
“I’m making the lineup, ‘consistency’ is a word I’ve mentioned before and we want him to be better,” Gallant said during the optional morning skate that had near perfect attendance. “He wants to better, we want him to be better and be more consistent.”
Lafreniere has faded over the last couple of weeks while playing the previous six games on the left with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, going eight straight without a goal following an 11-game drought through November. He has just not been involved. His skating has become a detriment. A step or decision late, the winger has not been as physically engaged as he was during the playoffs and the early part of the season.
This might prove a wake-up call for Lafreniere, who clearly needs to rebuild his confidence off a first-half performance in which he has recorded 17 points (5-12), with 14 (5-9) coming at five-on-five. Lafreniere’s five-on-five goals-per 60:00 of 0.62 is down from last year’s 0.95. The numbers reflect the story only to a certain degree. There has been regression. Still, No. 13 said he is in good frame of mind.
“I’m positive,” he said. “Last year I played pretty good and I can get back to that,” the winger said. “I’m just trying to go day by day and try to earn a spot in the lineup and get better.”
Gallant instituted the line changes he had first created at Wednesday’s practice that followed Tuesday’s 4-0 banana-peel defeat to the Capitals at the Garden. The Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Kaapo Kakko line that was intact the first 13 games was back together. Artemi Panarin was back with Vincent Trocheck as he was for the first 21 games, now with Barclay Goodrow on the right. Filip Chytil skated between Vitali Kravtsov in a new combination while the reinstated Sammy Blais and Jimmy Vesey flanked Jonny Brodzinski on the fourth line.
These moves were surely prompted by Tuesday’s pratfall but it is not as if Gallant had been performing cartwheels over his team’s performance even while going 8-1 in the preceding nine contests.
“I’m not satisfied,” the coach said. “I think we’re a better team than [the way] we’ve been playing.“We had a good little run going but still I think we need more consistency with our group and be better. So I’m trying to find those right combinations. Hopefully they’ll work out. They work out for a couple of games and then we seem to fall back and not play as well.”
Lafreniere is hardly the greatest culprit here. The Rangers are not getting anywhere near the production they need from Zibanejad, who had gone eight straight games without a goal and 11 straight without a five-on-five goal before his first-period tally Thursday. Indeed, Zibanejad entered playing ranking 86th of the 97 forwards with 450:00 in five-on-five goals per 60:00 at 0.5. Trocheck ranked tied for next-to-last at 0.35.
But it is Lafreniere who is sitting, the celebrated first-overall who during his draft year was advertised as a generational-type player and franchise cornerstone.
Not yet.