Mike Sullivan Eager To Bring Out The Best In New York Rangers First-Overall Draft Pick
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The New York Rangers' 1st overall pick in 2020, Alexis Lafreniere, has just received another lifeline, from Head Coach Mike Sullivan. This season, the new bench boss has an idea of how to rejuvenate his game, and it's unconventional.
New York Rangers Head Coach Mike Sullivan has a plan for Alexis Lafreniere.
The former 1st overall pick in 2020 has seen his production wane after his exciting 57-point (29-28) 2023-24 season. We'd see him take a step back and produce 45 points in a team that underperformed a season after winning the President's Trophy.
Instead of reducing his time and responsibilities, Mike Sullivan is heading in a different direction in order to give Lafreniere a chance to redeem himself.
He's going to give him power-play time on the 1st unit, which is in concert with more responsibility in the lineup elsewhere (this is speculation).
The plan sounds like they're going to let Lafreniere continue to develop at his pace and give him the best opportunities to do so.
Can Alexis Lafreniere Capitalize On His New Opportunity?
Alexis Lafreniere has a chance to prove us all wrong this season, as Mike Sullivan will be giving him prime real estate on the 1st power-play unit.
While Sullivan hopes to improve his game, the first thing that Lafreniere will need to improve is his shooting percentage, which last season was a dismal 11.1% according to Frozen Tools.
The former 1st overall pick played a total of 17:00 average time on ice per night as well, so it's difficult to tell whether or not Sullivan will increase his ice time, along with his special teams duties.
His XGF was 54.22, which meant the line of Vinnie Trocheck, Artemi Panarin, and Alexis Lafreniere had great scoring chances while they were on the ice, but as you can tell, with a lower shooting percentage, it just wasn't going in for him.
This could be the year he rebounds from a season where we saw him produce disappointing results.
Last season, he signed a 7-year $52.15 million contract, and the Rangers are determined to get all of the value out of him they can.
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