Another issue emerges for Alexis Lafrenière in NYC after 1st game of the season

New York Rangers Alexis Lafrenière had a terrible camp and preseason. He was even a healthy scratch for some games and fans assumed that even new head coach Peter Laviolette couldn’t shake the former first overall pick to meet expectations that he’s failed to reach since 2020.

However, on Thursday night, during the Rangers’ first game of 2023-24 against the Buffalo Sabres, Lafrenière recorded the first goal for the team and earned himself the famous hat for the player of the game in the dressing room after the team’s 5-1 win.

But you know what that means, right? Fans now expected that the Rangers are entering the Lafrenière redemption era and we’re finally seeing the kid’s breakout season with many posts saying that it’s finally his time to shine and that he is a new man, who just turned 22 years old on opening day, and will bloom under Laviolette…

I feel like we’re back to the same problem Lafrenière had when he was drafted first overall by the Rangers: he won’t be able to handle the pressure.

He always looks paralyzed when put under the spotlight, and while he is said to be a work horse off the ice and during training in the summer, his work has not translated onto the ice.

However, he did record a goal and managed to block three shots last night, so I am all about giving him another chance.
But unless Lafrenière has learned to deal with the pressure of playing in a huge market like NYC, where fans will criticize you and forget what you accomplished in the last game, Lafrenière faces a new issue with his first game performance…

Let’s hope he’s got new tools to deal with that pressure, and keep impressing fans in the Rangers’ second contest of the season, which takes place against the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Saturday.

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