New York Rangers: Has Will Cuylle surpassed Alexis Lafreniere?

The year was 2020. A simpler time, when nothing of note was going on in the world. The Rangers had just capped off a disappointing season where they (kind of) missed the playoffs. That disappointment quickly morphed into excitement after the franchise surprisingly won the draft lottery in a year when there was one, true blue-chip prospect; Alexis Lafrenière. 

The year before, the Rangers had used the second overall pick to draft Kappo Kakko. The year before that brought on Vitali Kravtsov, K’Andre Miller and Nils Lundqvist. The year before that? Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil. For most fans, the future couldn’t be brighter. 

Fast forward a half-decade and five of those players are no longer in New York and the two who remain have faced criticism for underperforming expectations. For most fans watching the Rangers in the present, the future couldn’t be murkier. 

With such a dark cloud hovering above the organization, it’s easy to miss silver linings, and in the year 2025 there might not be any more silvery lining than Will Cuylle. 

Cuylle was drafted 59 spots after Lafrenière in 2020. Unlike Laf, Cuylle had to wait several seasons to earn a full-time roster spot. In his rookie campaign last year, Cuylle was solid- albeit unspectacular- notching 13 goals and eight assists in 81 games, followed by just two points during a deep playoff run. Despite that and despite Head Coach Peter Laviolette’s reputation for scratching players of all skill levels, Cuylle held his spot in the lineup all year. 

Now, we might be seeing why. This season, Cuylle has already surpassed his rookie scoring total, with 15, and nearly doubled his total assists. He’s also coming off a three-game stretch in which he has arguably been the best skater in the squad. The first game of that stretch in Columbus right before the 4 Nations break, Cuylle arguably single-handedly rescued the Rangers’ fragile playoff aspirations. 

Then, this past Sunday in Pittsburgh, Cuylle wasn’t arguably one of the Rangers’ best skaters, he was definitively the best skater, according to hockey analytics site, HockeyStatCards.com.

While Cuylle’s arrow continues to point up, Lafrenière’s has taken a downturn. Coming off a career year in just about every major category, Laf has regressed this season. He’s way off last season’s pace in both goals and points. He hasn’t taken a step up on the power play and his defense has been a major liability. 

All of this could lead a fan to wonder…who has the brighter future ahead of them? Alexis Lafrenière or Will Cuylle? 

At the beginning of this season, if someone asked me that exact question, I would assume they were one of Will Cuylle’s parents, because no one else in their right mind would even contemplate such a comparison. Last October, Lafrenière wasn’t only better than Cuylle, he was the inarguable spearhead of the Rangers’ future. 

Now, nearing the final stretch of the season, Cuylle has performed just as well as Lafrenière on the stat sheet. That is until you take a closer look at the advanced statistics, in particular HockeyStatCards' simple but effective "Net Rating," which measures a player's overall performance based on the difference between their on-ice goals scored and goals allowed when they are on the ice. When you do that, the better performance this season becomes inarguable.

The better performance is from Will Cuylle.