Goalscoring is a premium skill and trait in the National Hockey League. It's coveted and sought after. The Los Angeles Kings have found a potential gem in Alex Laferriere, particularly in his ability to score goals. With eleven goals in his first 25 games this season, Laferriere is well positioned to threaten for thirty this year. Laferriere's early production is Déjà vu for the Kings, as Trevor Moore had a similar start to last season, finishing with 31 goals. Moore, like Laferriere, was hot out of the gates, but his productivity slowed to a halt. Moore produced a thirty-goal season, which surprised, as a player of his talent threshold was not believed to be in the realm of possibility on a check-first team. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/los-angeles-kings/latest-news/kings-offense-precarious-while-team-carries-on] I believe Laferriere is well within range to be able to produce a thirty-goal season this year, and just like Moore, it'll be a massive surprise and not likely to become a trend in either career. The statistics may say otherwise. With 55 shots on goal this season, Laferriere is averaging just over two shots a game, which doesn't categorize him as a high-volume shooter. He isn't a natural sniper, so he must shoot more to maintain his scoring rate. Laferriere is shooting at an unsustainable 20% to start the year. That'll come back down to earth. In his first 12 games this year, he scored eight goals. In the 13 following, he only scored three. What you'd expect to see from Laferriere is most likely the ladder, but he is capable of producing in bunches, as seen early on this year. To bring the comparison back to last year, Moore scored two powerplay goals as part of the second powerplay unit. Laferriere got the nod on the first powerplay unit this season with the vacancy of right-handed forwards. With the exposure of being on the top unit with elite players, I expect Laferriere's goal total (1) on the powerplay will increase higher than Moore's two in the year he scored thirty. What's going for Laferriere is that he's been borderline elite scoring at even strength this season. Even if Laferriere isn't the number one or two option on the first powerplay unit, he will still lurk around while elite players operate on the man advantage. If he can produce 4-5 goals on the man advantage while continuing to excel five-on-five, thirty is on the horizon. Laferriere is in a great position to be the next thirty-goal scorer for the club. He will have an uphill battle as the year wears on all players, particularly players in their first few years in the league as teams' tighten up their play. The odds will be stacked against him, but with his 11 goals already established in the young season and ample exposure on the first powerplay unit, a thirty-goal season is within the realm of possibility. LA Kings Weekly Preview - December 1st
