Had Alexis Lafrenière prioritized coasting his way to the NHL Draft, the presumed No. 1 overall pick never would have completed the 2020 World Junior Championships.
The 18-year-old Canadian crumbled to the ice with a left knee injury during a Dec. 28 game against Russia, sending shockwaves through the hockey world. The safe choice — the choice that almost everyone expected him to make — would have been to sit out the rest of the tournament and protect his very valuable future.
But just five days later, Lafrenière was back in uniform for the quarterfinals. And from the moment he hit the ice, he sent a message about his toughness and determination.
“The way he came back — he did not play like a guy who was doubting himself, or play like a guy who was afraid of getting hurt again,” said Team Canada assistant coach André Tourigny.
“His first shift in that game was unbelievable. He started from the bench and he went on the forecheck and finished a big hit, then came back and hit another guy — and not just small hits. He went hard into his battle, so for me, that showed the competitiveness. He did not just want to play and just dip his toe in. He went (all) out.”
Lafrenière notched a goal and an assist in that game and went on to lead the Canadian team to a gold-medal finish, winning tournament MVP honors with four goals and six assists in five games.
“The big thing about Alexis is that he’s clutch,” Tourigny said. “In big moments, he was the best player.”
With that, the pride of Saint-Eustache, Quebec cemented his status as the best teenaged prospect in the world. It was never in doubt, really, not with Lafrenière dominating the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for the last three years.
Over the course of 173 games with Rimouski Océanic, the dynamic forward accumulated 297 points (114 goals and 183 assists) — an average of 1.72 per game and nearly 100 per season. He led the QMJHL with 112 points (35 goals and 77 assists) in 52 games in 2019-20, which works out to an average of 2.15 per game, to earn league MVP honors for the second consecutive season.
No draft-eligible player has been as productive, but it’s not just about the striking statistics. Lafrenière is considered the most well-rounded prospect in recent years, with a diverse skill set that appears to be NHL-ready.
“He’s got a high-level game in every single facet you look for these days,” said Scott Wheeler, an NHL Draft and prospects reporter for The Athletic. “There are no holes.”
A long list of strengths
At 6-foot-1, 193 pounds, Lafrenière is built to handle the jump to the pros.
“He’s really strong on the puck, really strong in battles and not afraid to get involved,” said Tourigny, who will be the head coach of Team Canada for the 2021 World Junior Championships.
“He has all the skill in the world. His hands are great, his shot is great, so I was expecting that. He’s (going to be) the first overall pick and there’s a lot of hype around him, so I knew he would be a good offensive player. But to see how physically strong he was and how much energy he was playing with, I was not expecting that. I did not know he had that in his repertoire.”
That willingness to use his strength and “challenge defenders to make physical contact,” as one North American scout put it, forms a dangerous combination with his high-end skill.
“There’s that elusive puck protection skill that a lot of smaller players have, but then he’s also physical, powerful — almost like a power-forward-type player who can sort of lean on you and drop his shoulder and cut to the net with strength,” Wheeler said. “I think that blend of power and finesse is what makes him so special.”
Lafrenière is an excellent passer to go along with his accurate shot and strong hands, but many also point to his ability to deceive with the puck.
“He keeps his hand position the same, whether he’s stick-handling, shooting or passing,” said Cam Robinson, the director of film scouting for Elite…
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