Rangers Counting on Breakout Seasons From Lafreniere & Perreault

The New York Rangers are looking to get back to being competitive this season after missing the playoffs the last two seasons. Even though they finished last in the Eastern Conference last season, there was still some good to come out of an overall poor year. The good was the play of Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault during the second half of the season. If the team has any chance of making the playoffs this season, they need these two players to build on the success they had last season.

Two Key Players of the Rangers’ Top-Six

The Rangers’ top-six forward group is going to look a bit different to start this season compared to last. Gone are players like Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, and to replace them, general manager Chris Drury brought in Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand. However, Lafreniere and Perreault were both part of the top six to end last season, and they played well on a line with Mika Zibanejad. The chemistry they built together helped make the Rangers fun to watch in the second half of the season, even when fans knew a playoff berth was not going to happen.

It seems likely that Lafreniere and Perreault are once again going to be key players in the Rangers’ top six to start the season, and the team needs them to be even better than what they were to end last season. The team views both of these players as foundational pieces of the franchise’s future. At 24 and 22 years of age, respectively, they still have plenty of time to grow into the players the Rangers hope they can be. This season has to be another step in the right direction, as failure would mean another failed season for the Rangers.

Perreault Is Entering His First Full NHL Season

This season is the third season of Perreault’s entry-level contract, but it will be the first full season for him if he makes the team out of training camp. He played five games at the end of the 2024-25 season and did not make the roster out of camp last season. He was called up in early December and remained on the team throughout the season, playing in 49 games, scoring 12 goals, and recording 27 points. Can Perreault handle playing in a full 84-game regular season, which is something he has never done before?

Despite the success he had playing with Lafreniere and Zibanejad to end last season, Perreault is likely going to have to earn his top-six role. If he does and remains on that same line, or even a line centered by J.T. Miller, he is going to have to try to create opportunities for his linemates. He is more of a passer than a goal scorer, but can shoot the puck well when he needs to. Perreault is one of the more overlooked younger players heading into this season, and the Rangers are hoping he can use that chip on his shoulder to help the team be better than what they have been recently.

Can Lafreniere Finally Live Up to His Potential?

It’s been six years since Lafreniere was drafted first overall, and he has yet to look like that kind of player on the Rangers. He has had a few good seasons, but the team and the fans expected more from him, and maybe he will never be that kind of player. Fans might have to accept that he is never going to be a 40-goal, 90-point player and instead, 30 goals and 70 points is probably his ceiling. That is still a very good player in the NHL, and the Rangers are going to need Lafreniere to be that type of player this season.