Rangers will 'explore combinations' on how to use Alexis Lafreniere effectively
Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere sets before a faceoff against the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden on Mar. 16. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH – Question No. 1 when the Rangers opened training camp on Thursday was whether Mika Zibanejad would start camp as a center or a right wing. New coach Mike Sullivan said Zibanejad, who had been the No. 1 center for most of the last eight years, will start on the wing alongside the new No. 1 center, J.T. Miller.
But when asked if Alexis Lafreniere, who has played right wing the past two seasons, might be better on the right or left, Sullivan’s answer wasn’t so definitive.
“I would envision us exploring combinations with respect to the top six [forwards],’’ he said on Wednesday. “You may see Laf on both sides, and we’ll figure out through that process of what combinations we think give us the best chance to succeed.’’
Whether he should play on the left or right side has been a question for Lafreniere since the Rangers selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2020. At the time, Artemi Panarin and Chris Kreider were entrenched as the top two left wings on the team, so the choice was either having Lafreniere switch to right wing or play his natural left wing position on the third line.
His first coach, David Quinn — who’s back on staff as one of Sullivan’s assistant coaches — tried him on the right in the beginning but then decided to move him back to the left for his rookie season. The next coach, Gerard Gallant, tried him on the right for a few games but preferred him on the left. The last two years, though, under Peter Laviolette, Lafreniere has been a full-time right wing, playing mostly with Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.
But with a lower-body injury keeping Panarin out of practice Saturday, Lafreniere, who will turn 24 on Oct. 11 and is entering his sixth season, found himself stepping in for Panarin and playing on the left of Trocheck and Taylor Raddysh in Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage.
“You’ve just got to get used to it,’’ Lafreniere said of moving from one wing to the other. “One side, you’re on your backhand a little bit more, I’d say. And coming back to ‘D’ zone, you’ve got to just remember, really, what side you’re on.
“It’s not a big deal.’’
Lafreniere may not have become the star many expected him to be by now, but he’s developed into a good player, one who has 92 goals and 101 assists in 380 games in five seasons. And he’ll be counted on to produce no matter which side of the ice he’s playing on.
Blue notes
Panarin, who left Friday’s practice early, is day-to-day, the team said . . . After practice, the Rangers made their first camp cuts, assigning eight players — goaltenders Hugo Ollas and Callum Tung, defensemen Cooper Moore and Chris Merisier-Ortiz and forwards Gavin Hain, Kyle Jackson, Zakary Karpa and Sullivan Mack to Hartford’s training camp. They returned Raoul Boilard, Artem Gonchar and Evan Passmore to their junior teams and released Tim Lovell and Corbin Vaughan from their tryouts.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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