How Rangers can unlock more production from disappointing Alexis Lafreniere
If the New York Rangers are ever going to get the elite scorer they imagined when selecting Alexis Lafreniere first overall in the 2020 NHL Draft, the 24-year-old must start thinking like one again.
There are plenty of people who are convinced that Lafreniere will never become a dynamic offensive player, that his 419 NHL games are a large enough sample size to determine that the winger is what he is. That he’ll never put up big numbers, and wherever his career takes him, his team must accept that he’s a strong possession and scoring-chance driver, but not the franchise forward the Rangers expected.
Yet it remains impossible, even six seasons in, to know for certain what Lafreniere’s ceiling really is. That’s in part because the player that scored 114 goals in 173 games over three seasons for Rimouski of the QMJHL has not, for whatever reason, shot the puck nearly enough since coming to the NHL.
Alexis Lafreniere’s best NHL season included highest career shot totals
Lafreniere’s highest per-game average of shots on goal came during the 2023-24 season, when he posted a 2.6 mark, along with 4.9 total attempts per game – also a career best. Not coincidentally, that proved to be his best season in the NHL, when he scored 28 goals and totaled 57 points, then added eight goals and six assists in 16 postseason games during a very impactful playoff performance.
That convinced the Rangers to give him a seven-year, $52.15 million contract extension early in the following season, with the front office seeing an ascending player who finally found his confidence and figured out how to tap the potential that allowed him to become the consensus No. 1 prospect in his draft year.
You know the rest of the story. Lafreniere regressed along with his team during a lost 2024-25 season, his point total dropping from 57 the previous season to 45. In 2025-26, Lafreniere has eight goals and 12 assists in 39 games – OK, but not close to the production of some members of his draft class.
Why? Well, it’s difficult not to look at Lafreniere’s numbers and be frustrated by his low shot totals as a potentially big factor. Despite averaging more than 17 minutes per game in a top-six role for a Rangers team that played the most games in the League with 39 ahead of the holiday break, Lafreniere is tied for 140th in the NHL with 71 shots on goal. He’s tied for 136th with 147 total shot attempts.
Though there aren’t nearly enough examples due to Lafreniere’s lack of shot volume, his shot is powerful and accurate, and his deceptive and strong backhand led to more than a few of his 100 career goals (the milestone tally came on a deflection during a 7-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday).
Compare Lafreniere’s shot totals to those of erstwhile linemate Artemi Panarin, who despite a reputation of being a pass-first player, mirrors all elite offensive talents and fires the puck on goal with abandon. Panarin’s 117 shots on goal are tied for 13th in the NHL, and his 264 shot attempts are tied for sixth.
Great offensive players shoot the puck a lot. It’s that simple. Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon, for example, tops the League with 30 goals. His 162 shots on goal are also first in the NHL.
Artemi Panarin might be blessing & curse to Alexis Lafreniere
It’s difficult to know why Lafreniere appears less eager to pour in the goals than he was when playing junior hockey. Perhaps his consistent partnership with Panarin – now into its third season – is a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, Panarin is partly responsible for Lafreniere’s supposed 2023-24 breakout. Panarin is also one of the League’s great passers, and he recorded 71 assists during that career-best 120-point season. The line of Panarin, Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck was one of the best in the NHL that season, with Panarin driving both Lafreniere and Trocheck to career-high point totals.
Panarin’s elite skills, however, might also work against Lafreniere emerging as a dangerous volume shooter. Panarin dominates the puck in the offensive zone, and as much as he shoots, he could suppress chances for Lafreniere to deploy his own dangerous release. Perhaps Lafreniere also defers to the established star, who’s averaged well over a point per game in his 11-year career.
Lafreniere teases the Rangers with occasional eye-popping moves and dekes on goals and scoring chances. It’s possible that he just doesn’t get the puck enough to make those a more regular occurrence.
Can the Rangers figure out a way to make Lafreniere get more greedy for goals? With 112- and 105-point seasons in the QMJHL, it’s clear that he has the instinct to run up scoring totals. That’s yet to translate to the NHL for him. With an older forward core, the Rangers desperately need Lafreniere to take the next step that’s long been anticipated for him.
With six more seasons remaining on his contract beyond this one, the Rangers certainly have time to figure out how that might happen. Getting Lafreniere to finally shoot much more would be a start.
