Lafreniere set to build on breakout season for Rangers ahead of opener against Penguins

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Alexis Lafreniere is ready to take on more entering his fifth NHL season. The New York Rangers want to give it to him.

It isn't so easy.

Lafreniere broke out last season with 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists), with 51 points, including 26 goals, coming at even strength. The obvious next step is to see what he can do as a regular on the power play, but that's the conundrum coach Peter Laviolette is dealing with as the Rangers continue preparations for their regular-season opener at the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TNT, Max).

"It's a weighing and balancing thing," Laviolette said. "You've got a power play that [last season] ranked in the top five and No. 1 for long stretches in the League, so you're balancing that."

Lafreniere, the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, excelled last season as the right wing on a line with center Vincent Trocheck and left wing Artemi Panarin.

Panarin led the Rangers with 120 points (49 goals, 71 assists), including 75 at even strength. Trocheck was second on the team with 77 points (25 goals, 52 assists), with 52 points coming at even strength. All three linemates set NHL highs for points in a season.

Panarin was first among Rangers forwards in even strength ice time (16:31), Trocheck was second (16:24) and Lafreniere was third (15:58).

"I haven't broken that line up yet and we still haven't broken it up, and the reason why is it's been an effective, productive line for us," Laviolette said. "They play off each other well. They're all a little bit different but they all think the game the same way. It's proven to be successful."

Lafreniere, though, was limited to 1:17 of power-play ice time per game, unable to crack the first unit that featured Trocheck, Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox.

The Rangers finished third in the League on the power play at 26.4 percent with Kreider (18), Zibanejad (12), Panarin (11), Trocheck (11) and Fox (six) combining to score 58 of their 65 power play goals.

So, the same reason Laviolette gave for not breaking up the Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere line is why he never tinkered with the top power-play unit, and why he likely won't at the start of this season.

"Eighty to 85 percent of the time we loved our power play," Laviolette said. "It was good. It was effective. When that first unit, which was lethal at times, goes on the ice, well you're not really going to worry about the next group as much."

But Laviolette also knows for a player like Lafreniere to improve his numbers and potentially become a 35 or 40-goal scorer this season then power-play ice time is essential.

There were 22 players last season who scored 35 or more goals; all but Jonathan Marchessault (eight), then with the Vegas Golden Knights, scored at least 10 power play goals. Lafreniere had more even-strength goals than nine of the 22.

"I just think he can be a game-changer every game," Panarin said. "He has everything. I can't say he has one plus or a couple plusses. He can skate. He can shoot. He can pass. He can battle. Just everything."

Lafreniere wants the power play ice time.

"I mean, I feel every player wants that," he said. "But I don't really care about it. I go out there whenever my name is called."

Diplomatic for sure, but Lafreniere's personal stake in improving his numbers from last season can't be ignored.

He's in the last year of a two-year, $4.65 million contract ($2.325 million AAV). He can become a restricted free agent on July 1, 2025. Lafreniere has seen some of his peers, fellow 22-year-olds like Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond and Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis, sign lucrative eight-year contracts with their respective teams in the past few weeks.

Raymond signed for $64.6 million and Jarvis for $63.2 million. They're both regulars on the first power-play unit for their respective teams.

Raymond played 2:43 per game on the power play last season and Jarvis 2:56. Raymond finished with 72 points and Jarvis 67, but at even strength it was close; Raymond 56, Lafreniere 51 and Jarvis 44.

Lafreniere said his contract is not a concern for him now, that he'll deal with it later, but clearly it would benefit him to get regular time on the power play.

At the expense of what, and who, are the questions the Rangers are wrestling with now.

"You have to evaluate everything," Laviolette said. "That's training camp. That's exhibition games. That's maybe the start of the season as we're working through that and figuring that out."