Joe's Reaction of the Week: Maybe It Was Panarin's Fault After All
Lafrenière is on a heater, Perreault is pulling off highlight-reel plays, and suddenly we're left wonder if these two are better off without Panarin.
When I went through my trade predictions a couple of months ago (do not look at them, I beg of you) I had the below title for Alexis Lafrenière's tier:
Does Not Work But Might Be Fun To Fix
Around that time (and if I could find the episode I would link it here; but since I can't, just listen to every podcast we have ever done to hear it again) Eric and I talked about how there were running rumors that Chris Drury's thought process with Lafrenière was exactly that.
I argued that it made more sense for the New York Rangers to attempt to fix the depreciated asset, even if that meant risking an even further loss of value as time went on. Better to see if things get better than take a return you know isn't worth the player. I do know that we discussed this at length this week on the podcast, which you can listen to here.
In his past five games he has a 5-4-9 line. In his past 10 games, he has 13 points. He now has 44 points in 66 games this season. There is a chance he eclipses his 57-point career high this year, while also playing the best 200-foot game of his career.
As Eric and I said on the show: Removing the first-overall tag and what his expectations are—which is hard, and not fully fair, but for the scope of just evaluating in a vacuum what a player currently is the team they're currently on —a 200-foot play driver who posts 50 points is a need every Stanley Cup contender has. The hope is you don't need to spend a first overall pick to fill that middle-six role. But, if that's the way it shook out, then that's the way it shook out.
The other prospect is more exciting, though.
