The question isn’t whether Alexis Lafreniere will be the No. 1 pick in the Oct. 6 NHL Entry Draft, it’s which team will pick him. At least that’s the question in his mind, according to his thoughts on the league’s Zoom call with the top eight draft prospects last weekend.
“It’s been a pretty long wait, couple months I’ve been waiting, didn’t know what to expect, but it’s coming pretty soon, and for sure, the Rangers are a really big organization and really good team,” he said on the call. “They’re a really good young team, so we’ll see what happens, but it’s a really exciting team for sure.”
Lafreniere was speaking as if he wasn’t sure he was going to be a Ranger, despite the Blueshirts having the No. 1 pick, and him being the consensus No. 1 choice. Of course, the Rangers could trade the pick, or surprise everyone but themselves by going in a different direction, but this one might be more of a lock than water being wet.
Still, even though Lafreniere would be “really excited” to come to New York, he doubled down when asked about possibly playing alongside Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panarin, whom he said was his “favorite player to watch” in 2019-201.
“To maybe have the chance to play with him, it would be an honor and, for sure, really special for me,” he said. “I would for sure try to learn as much as I can from him.”
And what would the Rangers get in Lafreniere? Ask his former World Juniors Championships teammate, Quinton Byfield, who may be the No. 2 pick next week.
“His play speaks for itself on the ice, he’s an exceptional player, and he can do everything super good. And, he’s a really nice guy off the ice,” Byfield said. “We talked quite a bit at World Juniors, just about our experiences, and he was just giving me feedback on what he’s gone through and what I’ve gone through as well. I think we became pretty close over those couple of experiences.”
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