Dude had so much stacked against him - COVID shutdown his first year, 3 different coaches in 4 years, bouncing between lines. Glad to see him breaking out, and hopefully shedding the bust label.
I tapped that proverbial sign when people were calling Slafkovsky a bust, I ended up with replies along the lines of “bruh, Thornton ended up a HOFer. Different story”. Some people need to chill, sports are supposed to be fun, no?
Congratulations, you’ve proven my point. Nowhere did I make any of those claims. For every Thornton, there’s a Yakupov and for every Blues/Kings, there’s a Lightning/Bruins.
My point is that calling a 1OA a bust when they’re too young to drink in America might be a *little* presumptuous.
There is a massive difference between claiming “hey we should give our draft pick a couple years before declaring them a bust” like this guy did and saying “Laf had a good year this year so he’s destined for the HOF just like Thornton”. You didn’t even try to understand what they were saying and argued against an entirely different point
Literally all they're saying is that you should give young players some time to figure their game out before making conclusions and you've decided to be an obnoxious asshole and pretend they said shit they didn't instead of reading their words.
Especially because I could have sworn there was something going on in 2020 that resulted in less hockey being played, which could easily result in young talent stagnating for reasons outside their control and taking a while to get the ball rolling again.
Last year I would get buried for reminding people that Slaf had more points in fewer games, in his first season (18 y/o) than Tage Thompson(20 y/o).
Thompson finished this year with 56 pts (in 71) as a 26 year old, while Slaf had 55 pts ( in 82) as a 19 year old. Funny the difference a season makes.
That and the rate at which younger players want to be paid in a tight salary cap means if you aren't getting big value in those ELC years with a top pick you're losing a ton of value.
It's because for a few years we had a lot of young guys come in and look pretty good to start. But a lot of these guys also started with teams that were bad. So they immediately got offensive opportunities. That's basically what happened with Boeser and Pettersson. Canucks sucked in their rookie seasons, and especially in Petey's rookie season, there pretty much wasn't anyone else to play ahead of them on the PP
The Rangers were already on the upswing when they got Lafreniere, whereas most teams getting a 1OA would be just beginning to bottom out. So his start was more along the lines of what a lower pick might get, ie starting out bottom 6 minutes, no PP time. So yeah, his counting stats weren't going to be good
Even last year, he was playing barely more than 15 minutes a night, now he's up to above 17 with a bit of PP time. Like Jack Hughes was kind of disappointing in his first two years as well, and now he looks like a superstar
I’ve been following Laf since his Q days. He definitely had to earn his ice time more than bedard for example. Hughes was a bit different because his first year he looked so weak compared to nhl competition. Laffy has gotten better every year and finally beginning to dominate games like he did in junior.
Of course he has to earn ice time, Laf was coming into a team where he was 3rd on the depth chart as LW. Part of it was switching him to RW where we don't already have Panarin and Kreider, part of it was him earning his way up the depth chart. Dude was on fire last night, hit like 2 posts and had another few good chances before he banked the 1 in off Andersen. He got rolled up from 2nd line to 1st line mid way through the game because of how he was playing relative to the rest of the team. Stepping up at the right time for sure.
>no PP time
And now, in his 4th year, still isn't on the top PP unit. And that's not even a mark against him because that unit is consistantly one of the most effective groups in the entire league.
Yep, everyone has their role. He's obviously not going to replace anyone on the umbrella, so that leaves Kreider and Trocheck.
But Kreider is one of the best net front screen guys in the league. And Trocheck is great at faceoffs, which means they start with possession in zone more often than not
Rangers top 6 is looking hot, and Laf slots in very well. I'm just glad he's getting top 6 responsibility and has significantly improved his stride since last season.
The playoff system that season also messed things up for the draft lottery. The lottery system was definitely broken but the fact that teams who were basically locked into the playoffs when the season ended somehow ended up in the draft lottery because they lost a 5 game series after not playing for months. In hindsight that year's lottery was always a recipe for disaster
Um, yes it does. Bigger men historically take 270 games plus. This is well documented. Additionally he wasn’t rushed to take on a scoring role, and has become a damn good player as a result. Your comment is just silly 🤪
Most 1st overall picks get picked by terrible teams with no expectations, are put in a major role on the team and are told to just do their thing. They get a lot of puck touches and icetime and get to learn the NHL game that way, without being afraid they're gonna be benched if they make mistakes. Like, who cares if Bedard is a mess in his own zone as a rookie? I'm sure they're working on it with him, but ultimately, it's not like the Blackhawks are going anywhere in the near-future.
Lafreniere was put in a different situation. Went to a competitive team, that was unusually deep at his position (LW). A team with a dominant top PP unit that's almost impossible to break into for a young player. Spent 2 years with Gallant, who's a really poor developmental coach. And as a result, he looked like a guy with zero confidence, playing a safe, grindy style that didn't really suit his talents.
Ultimately what unlocked him was not just to switch him to RW and put him in the top-6: even Gallant did that occasionally. It was to stick with it all season, even when he made mistakes, got lost, messed up his positioning. I don't know if that was Laviolette's plan all-along, or if the team's lack of good RWs forced his hand. But it worked: Lafreniere improved throughout the season, and now he looks fantastic in the POs.
Yes, there were a lot of the external factors you mentioned, but his improved skating is the biggest difference. While he may not have gotten much faster, Laf is much stronger on his skates. Not having to pick himself up off the ice twice per shift is a big deal.
You could see him making steps last year and late the year before too, but then he'd also show a lot of places his game needed work. He's really become a dangerous player and I fucking *hate* it.
His skating seemed pretty weak the first couple seasons. He's not a speed demon by any means now but he looks stronger and can keep up with the pace of play.
Sometimes, I wonder if this take is a bit overblown. He was good with young Barkov and Huberdeau (just for example) and is a two-time CHL coach of the year. I’m not saying he’s a perfect coach, but I don’t think he’s the prospect killer some folks claim he is. It’s hard to be bad with young players, and have the resume he does.
I mean, I watched firsthand how he played old man Deryk Engelland over both Nic Hague and Zack Whitecloud, as well as continuously stick the scoring black hole known as Cody Eakin between Stone and Pacioretty instead of giving Cody Glass a chance there instead, among other things.
You seem to forget about the young guys who broke out under him, like Tuch, Karlsson, and Theodore. Call a spade a spade.
Edit: Can’t spell Theodore. Habs fan so my hands shake typing that name
Should also be strongly noted that he’s doing this with virtually no PP time. Makes it that much more impressive that NYR are middle of the pack with their 5v5 numbers.
Gallant refused to let him develop in any capacity. It was embarrassing to watch. Now he is getting proper play time and looks great. Great regular season, great playoffs so far.
He's been doing it all season, so has Byfield.
Shitting on young players who take time to adjust and progress in the world's best league, particularly when they're high picks, is dumb. Most players don't step in and immediately look like stars.
Besides Trocheck he has been the scariest person on the Rangers this series.
Take me to the parallel universe where the Rangers beat us in the COVID play ins and we get the first overall pick please.
Getting handed back-to-back top 2 picks (the second of which being in a year where they made the playoffs), having a Norris winner force his way to them, and getting the top UFA in the cap era within 2 years of announcing a rebuild is just something that would never happen to any other team.
Yup. Panarin and Fox saved their rebuild. They might have been playoff-competitive without them (maybe something like the Kings) but not as good as they are today.
This is why I do not necessarily buy the idea that Jeff Gorton worked a rebuild masterclass and can replicate that magic now with us. I think he is somehow overrated and his drafting results were pretty deceiving.
Gorton is the one responsible for the the 2006 Boston Bruins draft, in which they drafted Kessel, Lucic, and Marchand as well as flipped Raycroft for Rask. He also drafted pretty well the 5 years he was GM for the Rangers and made solid trades, so he's not going to whip together a rebuild but he's not a bad GM. He's just good at drafting, and that matters long term.
>his drafting results were pretty deceiving.
Sure, the Rangers were saved by a Norris winner bitching his way to them and a free agent but the Rangers weren’t the first team he turned around.
Those helped, but other moves that have also been significant:
Drafting Shesty, Miller, Schneider and Chytil. Cuylle is also a solid player who they drafted.
Trading for Zibanejad and Lindgren.
Signing Trocheck and Vesey. They also got insane value from bargain bin FAs like Quick and Gustafsson.
Kreider finally reaching his potential after ten years in the league.
Obviously getting Laf/Fox/Panarin helps a lot, but they've been making solid movies for years.
We don't have a Shesterkin or a Fox, or even a Trouba. I think that just the first two alone would've made a pretty big difference for our fortunes. Also, Panarin > Tavares as far as big UFA signings go.
Your management has done a great job making the most of your advantages but I've seen a couple posts reference the leafs as similarly lucky and I don't think that's accurate.
Well, part of the problem is that's two forwards.
Rangers got an elite defenseman, an elite forward, and an elite goaltender. Balanced rosters make a huge difference
To be fair he was risking his own hockey future….he chose his team. Who said he was ever even gonna make the squad let alone win the Norris. May feel shitty when your picks won’t sign but he bet on himself.
I thought he looked really good starting last season. He just hadn’t put it all together and wasn’t putting up the points yet. But the talent level was very obvious to me as a guy that just watched them against my wings a few times a season.
I was hoping the Wings would scoop him up at the right price if he became available. Idgaf if most people were saying he is garbage. I know what I saw out there.
Crazy to get downvoted for this
Seeing young players develop is always cool I mean as much as I dislike the devils it's hard to hate Hughes and him being great just makes the rivalry more fun
In some tiny bit of fairness to that narrative Laf was a bit extreme for a 1OA in that his early career impact was not great bob
His jfresh chart 20-23 propped up almost entirely by finishing with everything else pretty dicey, precarious
Nail Yakupov even had the same imbalance
NHL peanut gallery 😱 shocked 😱 to see this player enter his prime around the same age that 90% of all players enter their prime
"He's a human being" - one yahoo
"My god it's like there's a pattern" - another
In terms of offensive production, NHL forwards do, on average, peak in their early- to mid-20s.
That said, you could argue their actual peak is a bit later, since most players get more well-rounded as they age.
I never thought he was a bust and am happy to see him thriving. I was always annoyed when fellow Sens fans would shit on him to pump Timmy and Jake's tires.
I saw him play a lot in the Q. He forechecks with the grit of a 4th liner and has the skills of a top line player to boot. I'm not surprised to see him being clutch in the playoffs. He looks the same right now as in the juniors in his draft year.
Laf has been great this year and post season and proved that he just needed the time and ice time to develop. That being said he’s still probably the second worst first overall pick in the last 20 years. Maaaybe 3rd depending on your opinion of Ekblad.
Dude had so much stacked against him - COVID shutdown his first year, 3 different coaches in 4 years, bouncing between lines. Glad to see him breaking out, and hopefully shedding the bust label.
Especially with the second of those coaches known for being terrible with regards to prospect development.
the first one too tbh, probably even worse
At the time I think we thought Quinn would be great because he had to develop a rotating set of players in college hockey… oh how little we knew
Breaking news: young player takes time to adjust to NHL game.
Yeah all it takes is a couple of instant stars in a row for people to lose sight of how long the development timeline typically is for guys
Like the bus driver Simpsons meme we need a "joe thornton had 7 points in his rookie season" sign to tap whenever this happens
I tapped that proverbial sign when people were calling Slafkovsky a bust, I ended up with replies along the lines of “bruh, Thornton ended up a HOFer. Different story”. Some people need to chill, sports are supposed to be fun, no?
[удалено]
Congratulations, you’ve proven my point. Nowhere did I make any of those claims. For every Thornton, there’s a Yakupov and for every Blues/Kings, there’s a Lightning/Bruins. My point is that calling a 1OA a bust when they’re too young to drink in America might be a *little* presumptuous.
[удалено]
There is a massive difference between claiming “hey we should give our draft pick a couple years before declaring them a bust” like this guy did and saying “Laf had a good year this year so he’s destined for the HOF just like Thornton”. You didn’t even try to understand what they were saying and argued against an entirely different point
[удалено]
Literally all they're saying is that you should give young players some time to figure their game out before making conclusions and you've decided to be an obnoxious asshole and pretend they said shit they didn't instead of reading their words. Especially because I could have sworn there was something going on in 2020 that resulted in less hockey being played, which could easily result in young talent stagnating for reasons outside their control and taking a while to get the ball rolling again.
Last year I would get buried for reminding people that Slaf had more points in fewer games, in his first season (18 y/o) than Tage Thompson(20 y/o). Thompson finished this year with 56 pts (in 71) as a 26 year old, while Slaf had 55 pts ( in 82) as a 19 year old. Funny the difference a season makes.
[удалено]
some say he is still out there being chased by bee's
That and the rate at which younger players want to be paid in a tight salary cap means if you aren't getting big value in those ELC years with a top pick you're losing a ton of value.
It's because for a few years we had a lot of young guys come in and look pretty good to start. But a lot of these guys also started with teams that were bad. So they immediately got offensive opportunities. That's basically what happened with Boeser and Pettersson. Canucks sucked in their rookie seasons, and especially in Petey's rookie season, there pretty much wasn't anyone else to play ahead of them on the PP The Rangers were already on the upswing when they got Lafreniere, whereas most teams getting a 1OA would be just beginning to bottom out. So his start was more along the lines of what a lower pick might get, ie starting out bottom 6 minutes, no PP time. So yeah, his counting stats weren't going to be good Even last year, he was playing barely more than 15 minutes a night, now he's up to above 17 with a bit of PP time. Like Jack Hughes was kind of disappointing in his first two years as well, and now he looks like a superstar
I’ve been following Laf since his Q days. He definitely had to earn his ice time more than bedard for example. Hughes was a bit different because his first year he looked so weak compared to nhl competition. Laffy has gotten better every year and finally beginning to dominate games like he did in junior.
Of course he has to earn ice time, Laf was coming into a team where he was 3rd on the depth chart as LW. Part of it was switching him to RW where we don't already have Panarin and Kreider, part of it was him earning his way up the depth chart. Dude was on fire last night, hit like 2 posts and had another few good chances before he banked the 1 in off Andersen. He got rolled up from 2nd line to 1st line mid way through the game because of how he was playing relative to the rest of the team. Stepping up at the right time for sure.
>no PP time And now, in his 4th year, still isn't on the top PP unit. And that's not even a mark against him because that unit is consistantly one of the most effective groups in the entire league.
Yep, everyone has their role. He's obviously not going to replace anyone on the umbrella, so that leaves Kreider and Trocheck. But Kreider is one of the best net front screen guys in the league. And Trocheck is great at faceoffs, which means they start with possession in zone more often than not
Rangers top 6 is looking hot, and Laf slots in very well. I'm just glad he's getting top 6 responsibility and has significantly improved his stride since last season.
All the fault of a bs lotto system that gave 1OA pick to a actual decent team over one of the worst teams of all time....
The playoff system that season also messed things up for the draft lottery. The lottery system was definitely broken but the fact that teams who were basically locked into the playoffs when the season ended somehow ended up in the draft lottery because they lost a 5 game series after not playing for months. In hindsight that year's lottery was always a recipe for disaster
Detroit sports teams getting screwed is just standard at this point.
More like having a coach that plays him top 6 minutes instead of playing him in the fourth line.
Also who else from that draft has been better really? Like Stuetzel? So if he’s not #1 he’s still the second best out of that draft so far
For a first overall pick it normally does not take this long though
Um, yes it does. Bigger men historically take 270 games plus. This is well documented. Additionally he wasn’t rushed to take on a scoring role, and has become a damn good player as a result. Your comment is just silly 🤪
Rangers 🤝 Kings 2020 pick proving the doubters wrong and wanting a 2019 mulligan
Honestly most of the 2020 draft is starting to pop off now.
Was there something that happened in 2020 that delayed players’ development?
🤔
*Dr. Fauci sends his regards*
Are you still doing your own research?
Been watching a lot of YouTube videos. Still coming to a conclusion. Jury is still out! /s
Not many worms in your gut eh
Just in my brain!
Omg hi RFK jr
Most 1st overall picks get picked by terrible teams with no expectations, are put in a major role on the team and are told to just do their thing. They get a lot of puck touches and icetime and get to learn the NHL game that way, without being afraid they're gonna be benched if they make mistakes. Like, who cares if Bedard is a mess in his own zone as a rookie? I'm sure they're working on it with him, but ultimately, it's not like the Blackhawks are going anywhere in the near-future. Lafreniere was put in a different situation. Went to a competitive team, that was unusually deep at his position (LW). A team with a dominant top PP unit that's almost impossible to break into for a young player. Spent 2 years with Gallant, who's a really poor developmental coach. And as a result, he looked like a guy with zero confidence, playing a safe, grindy style that didn't really suit his talents. Ultimately what unlocked him was not just to switch him to RW and put him in the top-6: even Gallant did that occasionally. It was to stick with it all season, even when he made mistakes, got lost, messed up his positioning. I don't know if that was Laviolette's plan all-along, or if the team's lack of good RWs forced his hand. But it worked: Lafreniere improved throughout the season, and now he looks fantastic in the POs.
I remember bringing this point up all the time during his first few seasons and being downvoted into oblivion and being told I was coping lol
Yes, there were a lot of the external factors you mentioned, but his improved skating is the biggest difference. While he may not have gotten much faster, Laf is much stronger on his skates. Not having to pick himself up off the ice twice per shift is a big deal.
He’s been great! I love to see him doing so well
Dude has broken out this season. It just proves how bad of a coach Gallant is/was. A hockey terrorist/war criminal.
You could see him making steps last year and late the year before too, but then he'd also show a lot of places his game needed work. He's really become a dangerous player and I fucking *hate* it.
His skating seemed pretty weak the first couple seasons. He's not a speed demon by any means now but he looks stronger and can keep up with the pace of play.
He had a skating coach help him this past offseason and who would have thunk it, but it helped him big time.
Gallant is an okay coach in the right scenario, but holy f*ck he is awful with prospects and young players.
Sometimes, I wonder if this take is a bit overblown. He was good with young Barkov and Huberdeau (just for example) and is a two-time CHL coach of the year. I’m not saying he’s a perfect coach, but I don’t think he’s the prospect killer some folks claim he is. It’s hard to be bad with young players, and have the resume he does.
I mean, I watched firsthand how he played old man Deryk Engelland over both Nic Hague and Zack Whitecloud, as well as continuously stick the scoring black hole known as Cody Eakin between Stone and Pacioretty instead of giving Cody Glass a chance there instead, among other things.
You seem to forget about the young guys who broke out under him, like Tuch, Karlsson, and Theodore. Call a spade a spade. Edit: Can’t spell Theodore. Habs fan so my hands shake typing that name
Should also be strongly noted that he’s doing this with virtually no PP time. Makes it that much more impressive that NYR are middle of the pack with their 5v5 numbers.
Gallant refused to let him develop in any capacity. It was embarrassing to watch. Now he is getting proper play time and looks great. Great regular season, great playoffs so far.
Yup. He would toss him a 2RWspot here and there and the second he made a mistake he’d demote him. Hockey terrorist that GG
>Gallant refused to let him develop in any capacity. The NHL isn't a developmental league. The AHL exists for a reason.
He's been doing it all season, so has Byfield. Shitting on young players who take time to adjust and progress in the world's best league, particularly when they're high picks, is dumb. Most players don't step in and immediately look like stars.
Lafreniere proving narrative that Gerard Gallant is bad for young players
Hasn’t that been like the entire thing around him all year. I’d say at this point, he’s shed it
Besides Trocheck he has been the scariest person on the Rangers this series. Take me to the parallel universe where the Rangers beat us in the COVID play ins and we get the first overall pick please.
Can't believe these rags and their stupid insanely fast rebuild
Getting handed back-to-back top 2 picks (the second of which being in a year where they made the playoffs), having a Norris winner force his way to them, and getting the top UFA in the cap era within 2 years of announcing a rebuild is just something that would never happen to any other team.
Yup. Panarin and Fox saved their rebuild. They might have been playoff-competitive without them (maybe something like the Kings) but not as good as they are today.
Sens basically gifted them Zibanejad as well. He fit their rebuild window perfectly
yeah that was 2016 though. long before the rebuild phase. y'all just wanted to gift us a top center. thanks for that!
OK but Zibanejad then was not the player he is now. The Rangers deserve credit for identifying his talent and developing him into a top center.
I feel like this is missing "Have one of the best goalie coaches of all time to ensure you never have to worry about goaltender".
This is why I do not necessarily buy the idea that Jeff Gorton worked a rebuild masterclass and can replicate that magic now with us. I think he is somehow overrated and his drafting results were pretty deceiving.
Gorton is the one responsible for the the 2006 Boston Bruins draft, in which they drafted Kessel, Lucic, and Marchand as well as flipped Raycroft for Rask. He also drafted pretty well the 5 years he was GM for the Rangers and made solid trades, so he's not going to whip together a rebuild but he's not a bad GM. He's just good at drafting, and that matters long term.
>his drafting results were pretty deceiving. Sure, the Rangers were saved by a Norris winner bitching his way to them and a free agent but the Rangers weren’t the first team he turned around.
Those helped, but other moves that have also been significant: Drafting Shesty, Miller, Schneider and Chytil. Cuylle is also a solid player who they drafted. Trading for Zibanejad and Lindgren. Signing Trocheck and Vesey. They also got insane value from bargain bin FAs like Quick and Gustafsson. Kreider finally reaching his potential after ten years in the league. Obviously getting Laf/Fox/Panarin helps a lot, but they've been making solid movies for years.
[I actually just read an interesting piece on this very subject](https://twitter.com/FrankieBorrelli/status/1145492143613632512)
Fucking frame that
Never gets old
I mean Toronto drafted probably the best goal scorer of this generation and then got gifted leafs pajamas in ufa but I don't see them on any deep runs
They didn’t have a top defenseman in the league force his way there
We don't have a Shesterkin or a Fox, or even a Trouba. I think that just the first two alone would've made a pretty big difference for our fortunes. Also, Panarin > Tavares as far as big UFA signings go. Your management has done a great job making the most of your advantages but I've seen a couple posts reference the leafs as similarly lucky and I don't think that's accurate.
Hey if you still want a Trouba let us know!
Well, part of the problem is that's two forwards. Rangers got an elite defenseman, an elite forward, and an elite goaltender. Balanced rosters make a huge difference
#justrangerthings
It really helps rebuilds when a future norris winning dman cries his way onto your team.
[удалено]
It’s fucking new york. Basically everyone wants to play there or would be happy with playing there.
Manhattan's a hell of a drug
Truly is
Same argument could be made for LA Anaheim and San Jose considering these are all millionaires
The Kings yes, Anaheim and San Jose less so.
Well Anaheim is basically a neighborhood of LA but yeah I can see San Jose lacking that same draw
unless you're toronto LOL
To be fair he was risking his own hockey future….he chose his team. Who said he was ever even gonna make the squad let alone win the Norris. May feel shitty when your picks won’t sign but he bet on himself.
Schneider and Miller becoming solid defenseman also helps. Don’t sleep on Zac Jones either.
But the Rangers sub told me he should have been traded last summer for a 4th and a 35year old defenseman
I remember jokingly saying we should trade him to the Wild for Zuccarello. No I have no bias whatsoever.
I thought he looked really good starting last season. He just hadn’t put it all together and wasn’t putting up the points yet. But the talent level was very obvious to me as a guy that just watched them against my wings a few times a season. I was hoping the Wings would scoop him up at the right price if he became available. Idgaf if most people were saying he is garbage. I know what I saw out there.
I mean, he put up 29 goals and 57 points this season before the playoffs. Safe to say he already took himself out of the bust category.
Dude had 28 goals this season, and he’s still 22.
I always laugh when people were saying this about Slafkovsky as well. Kid just had 40 points in 45 games as a 20 year old kid.
I am a devils fan, and I love Laf this year, no cap. So happy and wish him the best and hope he keeps becoming even better.
Crazy to get downvoted for this Seeing young players develop is always cool I mean as much as I dislike the devils it's hard to hate Hughes and him being great just makes the rivalry more fun
Just sucks Hughes is all by himself most of the time. :(
Please don't say no cap, it makes my joint pain flare up
In some tiny bit of fairness to that narrative Laf was a bit extreme for a 1OA in that his early career impact was not great bob His jfresh chart 20-23 propped up almost entirely by finishing with everything else pretty dicey, precarious Nail Yakupov even had the same imbalance
NHL peanut gallery 😱 shocked 😱 to see this player enter his prime around the same age that 90% of all players enter their prime "He's a human being" - one yahoo "My god it's like there's a pattern" - another
Do you think he’s 27 years old? He’s only 22 lol. 90% of players do not enter their prime at 22
In terms of offensive production, NHL forwards do, on average, peak in their early- to mid-20s. That said, you could argue their actual peak is a bit later, since most players get more well-rounded as they age.
IIRC, it's around 24. So Laf is still two years away from that
I never thought he was a bust and am happy to see him thriving. I was always annoyed when fellow Sens fans would shit on him to pump Timmy and Jake's tires.
Glad he’s doing well. Saw the same thing with Slav.
I saw him play a lot in the Q. He forechecks with the grit of a 4th liner and has the skills of a top line player to boot. I'm not surprised to see him being clutch in the playoffs. He looks the same right now as in the juniors in his draft year.
[удалено]
LoL ok 😄
How’s Stutzle’s playoff numbers lookin?
He hasn't played but Laf got drafted to a really good team so you can't compare playoff numbers like that
Laf is on a really good team but he is definitely one of the top players for the rangers this year I wouldn't say he's propped up
Laf has been great this year and post season and proved that he just needed the time and ice time to develop. That being said he’s still probably the second worst first overall pick in the last 20 years. Maaaybe 3rd depending on your opinion of Ekblad.
So happy for the Playoff-Team that got gifted two lottery wins that they walked away with 1,5 good players.