Alexis Lafreniere may be having breakout at perfect time for Rangers

When the New York Rangers won the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery and landed forward Alexis Lafreniere, the expectation, as it is with any No. 1 overall pick, was that he would become a franchise cornerstone and star-level player.

Over the first six years of his career, he never really reached that level.

There were flashes of it. There were reasons to believe he might eventually get there. But he has simply been a good, not great player. That has led to some frustration among the organization and fan base, while also making him the subject of occasional trade rumors.

Nothing ever came of those rumors, and it might be one of the best moves general manager Chris Drury has made during his time running the Rangers.

Not only is Lafreniere off to the best start of his career, but he might finally be having that big breakout. It is perfectly timed for the Rangers.

Alexis Lafreniere is reaching his peak at the exact right time for the New York Rangers

With two more goals in the Rangers' 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, Lafreniere is already up to seven goals and 10 total points through the Rangers' first eight games of the season.

He's been one of their best players, one of their most productive players, and is stepping up at a time when the Rangers have some big uncertainty following the season-ending injury to starting goalie Igor Shesterkin.

For years, Shesterkin has been the backbone of everything the Rangers do, and has had to mask several flaws throughout the roster. Not having him there could be a major blow to their playoff chances.

The best way to overcome that, aside from a backup goalie stepping up, is finding some more offense and impact players to help give the goalies more offensive support.

Lafreniere is taking care of that.

While there is some reason to believe that his goal-scoring production will slow down a little bit (he is not going to keep scoring on more than 38% of his shots the way he is so far), he seems to finally have the trust of the coaching staff to play a bigger role. 

While Lafreniere's traditional box score numbers have never really jumped off the page throughout his career, he has always been a very efficient scorer during 5-on-5 play and always scored goals at a rate that is comparable to a first-or second-liner. The problem was always opportunity and ice time. Early in his career, the Rangers were trying to compete for a championship and did not have the luxury to throw him into big minutes, which pushed him down the lineup. There was little patience for the mistakes that often come with a young player, and it resulted in him not always getting a chance to shine.

He is playing more minutes than ever before and generating shot attempts at an elite rate. 

It is all highly encouraging.

The Rangers have been patient, and while the process has been slow and perhaps even frustrating for both him and the team, everybody is finally getting exactly what they wanted. Lafreniere is getting a chance to be a focal point. The Rangers are getting a top-line scorer at a time when they need it.