Rangers coach eyes ‘another level’ for Alexis Lafreniere, Will Cuylle
The New York Rangers need much more from young top-six forwards Alexis Lafreniere and Will Cuylle, whose combined slow start mirrors that of the team.
Despite substantial minutes and opportunity, Lafreniere (one goal, one assist, averaging 18:19 TOI) and Cuylle (one goal; 17:29 TOI) have combined for two goals in the first eight games for the Rangers, who carry a disappointing 3-4-1 record into their home game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
The scoring slump is a team-wide issue. The Rangers are 31st out of 32 teams in the League, averaging 2.00 goals for per game. Of their 16 goals, six were scored in a lopsided 6-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 11. They’ve scored a total of two goals in their five defeats, and one in four games at Madison Square Garden, where they are winless and have been shut out three times.
So, no, Cuylle and Lafreniere aren’t the only ones failing to produce. But they were the ones coach Mike Sullivan was asked about after practice Wednesday.
“I think there’s another level to their game,” Sullivan said simply.
That’s an understatement. Cuylle, 23, scored 20 goals last season and is a top-six regular for the first time in three NHL seasons. Lafreniere, 24, scored 28 goals two seasons ago, but remains a mystery after he dropped to 17 in 2024-25.
Sullivan sees a fairly simple solution to their scoring struggles.
“Just encouraging them to get to the interior of the rink a little more, more of a mindset to get inside the dots, whether it be going to the net and staying at the net, or whether it be off the rush with a low-ice mindset, trying to drive pucks deep down below the circles,” Sullivan explained. “If you get a step on a guy, try to get inside. Essentially, the message to them is to get to the interior of the rink because that’s where the goals are scored.”
Lafreniere is sitting on a six-game pointless streak ahead of the game Thursday. He’s put up goose eggs since a two-point effort in a 4-0 road win against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 9. Cuylle scored his only goal in that 6-1 thrashing of the Penguins; he is pointless in five straight games.
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan demands better ‘execution … intensity’ at practice
There were a few F-bombs dropped by Sullivan during practice Wednesday. And he was quite loud getting points across during group meetings on the ice as well.
Most of that was aimed at getting the Rangers to practice their special teams at a higher compete level.
“I just thought we could’ve done a better job with our execution and our intensity. We’re trying to get better on both sides of the special teams,” Sullivan explained. “Our penalty kill has to pay more attention to detail. They get an opportunity to get reps at it. They also have the chance to push our power play to be at its best. … We want our penalty kill to compete extremely hard against our power play, to push them to be at their very best. That was just part of the discussion.”
For the record, the Rangers’ penalty kill is seventh in the League (88.2 percent), after they were 3-for-3 against in a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday night. New York has scored three power-play goals this season and ranks 26th in the NHL at 15.0 percent.
When asked if his final on-ice message Wednesday was directed at the special teams, Sullivan provided little information.
“No, that was different and we’ll keep that between the team.”
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