Alexis Lafrenière knows that he didn't have a good 2024-25 season, and he's already admitted that he's thinking big for 2025-26. The good news for him is that new head coach Mike Sullivan has plans for the Rangers' No. 1 overall pick from the 2020 draft.
#NYR Mike Sullivan: "You may see Laf on both sides."
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) September 17, 2025
Lafrenière faced road blocks from the get go
Lafrenière was drafted as a left wing, and at the time the Rangers had Artemi Panarin as the top-line left wing, and Chris Kreider also on the left side in the top six. This kept him on the third line, and it wasn't that big of a problem when he was playing with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko as part of the Rangers' "Kid Line".
Both Chytil and Kakko are gone now, and despite Lafrenière entering the first year of a contract extension, it feels like time is of the essence to make an impact. Prior to signing his extension, Lafrenière made the shift to right wing, something that was a bit of an adjustment for him, but he sucked it up to get extra playing time in the top six. The news that Sullivan is considering moving him back to left wing, even if only for a bit, is interesting to hear. It suggest that the composition of the top six isn't set in stone.
Lafrenière rotating between wings gives Sullivan options
We know at the very least that J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad will be a combo on a line, and it would have been fair to think that Will Cuylle would have started along with them given how well the line played to end the season. It now seems possible that Lafrenière could get a shot on that line, this time shifting back to the left wing.
That might mean Cuylle shifts to a line along with Vincent Trocheck and Panarin, or maybe Sullivan envisions him being an elite third liner player to enhance the team's overall depth. This is all dependent on Lafrenière being on the left, and if he takes more shifts on the right, things would essentially remain status quo.
It is important to give the kids a shot to earn a spot
I do think that being flexible with Lafrenière is also a tactic on Sullivan's part to keep the options open for players like Gabe Perreault and Brennan Othmann to earn a shot in the top six. If the Rangers simply repeated what they deployed last season, that would limit their opportunities. It is possible that Sullivan wants to make each player earn their spot in the lineup, and moving the wings around is a way to foster competition. We will get a better sense of that once preseason games start and the roster gets smaller, because right now it's hard to make sense of combinations given there are three different groups in camp.
Final thoughts
The Rangers have all the belief in the world in Lafrenière, and they wouldn't have signed him to the deal they did if they were unsure of his ability to grow as a player. The hope is that his struggles last year were an anomaly and just part of the whole team going through a ton of unnecessary "B.S.". That he is one of the players top of mind for Sullivan in terms of experimenting to get him going should be interpreted as a good sign.
That said, it's important to consider that the Rangers also want to learn about other players on the roster, and better inform themselves on what their options are if Lafrenière were no longer part of the team. I say this because if the Rangers were to entertain trading for Kirill Kaprizov, it's almost a guarantee that Lafrenière would be part of the package. While I doubt that's part of their thinking as part of this experiment, it just underscores the situation Lafrenière is in, and how important it is for him to play up to his potential.