The Rangers have spent the first chunk of this season turning heads, and Alexis Lafreniere has been right at the center of it. New York is off to a 6-2-0 start, sitting one point behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Metropolitan Division and first in the league, a sharp turn after finishing last in the Eastern Conference a season ago. Lafreniere has helped drive that surge, building on the late-season run that hinted he was finally starting to look like the player the Rangers expected when they took him first overall six years ago.
That turnaround really took off after the Olympic break last season. New York entered that stretch in rough shape, with Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin injured and the club already headed toward a retooling direction after general manager Chris Drury sent a letter to fans saying as much. Artemi Panarin, on an expiring deal, was shipped to the Los Angeles Kings before the Olympic roster freeze, and suddenly Lafreniere had a clearer path into a true top-six role.
Once the Rangers came back from the break, Lafreniere lined up with Mika Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault, and the trio became one of the league’s most dangerous units down the stretch. Lafreniere looked especially dangerous with that heavier role and a spot on the top power-play group.
Before the Panarin trade, he had 10 goals and 29 points in 53 games. Over the final 29 games, he added 14 goals and 28 points, finishing with 24 goals and 57 points to match his career high in points.
The question this fall was whether that stretch was the real thing or just a late burst that would disappear once the games started counting again. That skepticism made sense.
One of the knocks on Lafreniere was that he had been producing when the Rangers were already out of playoff contention, and the real test was whether he could carry that same edge into meaningful games. Through the first four games this season, he hadn’t answered that challenge.
The Rangers were winning, but Lafreniere had zero goals and wasn’t driving the offense the way people had hoped.
Then everything flipped over the next four games. Lafreniere has scored seven times in that span, which has him second in the league in goals at time of writing. He also leads the Rangers with 10 points in eight games, and he’s been finding scoring chances almost every time he steps over the boards.
That kind of start matters for New York, especially with Igor Shesterkin now out for the season. The Rangers need their best players to keep pushing the pace if they’re going to stay in the mix, and Lafreniere has moved into that category after all the roster changes of the past few seasons. This is the best he has looked in his career.
What’s stood out most is that the production hasn’t been tied to one exact setup. Lafreniere has been effective with different linemates, and his recent stretch alongside J.T.
Miller and Tye Kartye over the past two games has given the line a lively, varied feel. If he keeps scoring at this clip, he’s staring at the first 30-goal, 70-point season of his career.
That would be a real step forward, especially considering where things stood for him around this time last year, when it was still unclear whether he belonged in the Rangers’ long-term picture.
The Rangers’ strong start has already been one of the NHL’s better early-season stories. Plenty of players have chipped in, but Lafreniere’s hot start is the one that jumps off the page. He’s making it look like last season’s finish was no mirage, and right now he looks like New York’s most dangerous offensive weapon.
In Other News...
Rangers' Hot Start Is Changing One Big Offseason Pressure
The Rangers have spent the first few weeks of the season making a pretty strong case that their offense can carry more weight than expected, even with Igor Shesterkin out for the year. A 6-3-0 start has been built on depth and production across the forward group, with Alexis Lafreniere setting the tone and multiple skaters chipping in early. For a team that entered the year with questions about how much firepower it could really count on, the opening stretch has offered a reassuring answer.
It also changes the way the front office has to look at next offseason. The market for top scoring forwards was already shaping up to be tight, and some of the names that might have fit the Rangers' wish list are no longer likely to be available after agreeing to long-term extensions. That leaves New York in a familiar spot, with a hot start improving the mood now, while also narrowing the pathways to adding more punch later. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Blue Line Problem Is Turning Into A Bigger Lineup Debate
Through nine games, the Rangers blue line has started to look less like a settled unit and more like a nightly puzzle. The staff has been leaning on Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi in a shutdown role against top competition, but the pairing has not delivered the kind of steadiness the club needs when the matchups get heavy, and the numbers around zone starts, shot share and chances against have only sharpened the discussion.
With the early sample now large enough to raise real questions, the conversation has shifted from simple pairing preference to lineup construction. There are ways to reshuffle the defense and try to find cleaner fits, but the bigger picture remains tangled because Scott Morrows clearest path into the lineup does not appear to be through a routine rotation. For now, the Rangers are left weighing whether a change on the back end needs to come from reworking combinations or waiting for a more significant opening. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Forward Shuffle Opens Door For Another Veteran Chance
The Rangers early-season injury fallout has already forced a steady series of roster adjustments, and the latest shuffle on the forward side gives another veteran a chance to step back into the lineup. With Igor Shesterkin out for the season and James Reimer brought in on a PTO to help stabilize the goaltending situation, New York has had to patch holes wherever it can while also leaning more heavily on Dylan Garand.
On the skaters side, the moves have opened the door for Taylor Raddysh to get another look after time in Hartford, while the team continues to juggle young depth around him. The Rangers also had to sort out additional roster spots by moving Cole Beaudoin back to Hartford and bringing up Justin Dowling, a set of transactions that reflects how quickly the depth chart is shifting as the club tries to stay afloat through an ugly stretch of injuries. [Read more 🡒]