Alexis Lafrenière’s name has been circulating a lot at the combine over the past week

The deal is that Laffy will enter the first year of his seven-year contract – which will pay him $7.45 million per season for the duration of the deal.

And maybe the Rangers are a little afraid of this contract right now.

After trading Chris Kreider to the Ducks, the Blue Shirts already have a projected cap space of nearly $15 million in the pipeline for this summer. By trading Lafrenière… it would make it even easier for Chris Drury to be aggressive on the trade and free agent markets.

Alexis Lafrenière never quite lived up to expectations in New York.

He had a big season… but you always expect more from a guy who was selected 1st overall in the draft.

And we all agree: seeing a 1st-round pick average around 40 points in his first five NHL seasons isn’t enough. That’s why, at the beginning of this article, I mentioned that a change of scenery might be beneficial.

It’s not working out for the Québécois in New York, and it’s not because the Rangers haven’t tried either.

They’ve changed coaches, they’ve given Lafrenière chances by placing him on the club’s top line alongside Artemi Panarin on a few occasions, he’s been given the opportunity to play in the top-6… but the results have been disappointing.

That said, Lafrenière is (only) 23 and still has time to blossom. Again, we know it’s not a question of talent… because he has enormous potential and such interesting qualities for a player of his age.

And maybe he just needs to get traded to make it happen.

I wonder if the Canadiens have their noses in the matter, because we know that Jeff Gorton knows him very well: the Habs VP was on the job when the Rangers selected Laffy with the first overall pick in 2020.

Adding a guy like Alexis Lafrenière to the top-6 in Montreal sounds like something I’d be interested in. And at 6’2 and 200 pounds, it’s not like we’re talking about a midget either… which would fit in with the Habs’ current needs, as they’d like to bulk up.

Overtime

– He’ll have to be good tonight.

– I like his answer.

– Well done!