Alexis Lafreniere’s continued emergence key to Rangers 2024-2025 season
NY Post
Of all the problems for an NHL team to have at the start of training camp, a burgeoning player needing more opportunities is one any would like to have.
Such is a headlining matter for Alexis Lafreniere and the New York Rangers as they prepare for their first official on-ice session of the preseason on Thursday at MSG Training Center.
It’s one that has taken shape quickly since the second half of last season, when Lafreniere was one of the team’s most consistent skaters after his game finally clicked at the NHL level.
Head coach Peter Laviolette acknowledged Lafreniere’s breakout campaign, but as for exploring an expanded role for the 22-year-old wing, he said that’s what training camp is for.
“There’s definitely a confidence that you see with him in his game, and then watching it build all year into the playoffs,” Laviolette said in his pre-camp news conference with reporters on Wednesday. “He had a very good year. What you’d like to see from a young player, or from a team, is to continue to push every day to find ways to be better. To find ways to do more than you did before. Doesn’t always work that way. But with regard to a team, with regard to a player, you want to see people continue to take the next step.
“He certainly had a strong year that seemed to get better and stronger and more confident as the year went on. We’d like to see him take steps from there.”
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