Peter Laviolette grouped three of the most criticized players in New York on a line, who are now off to a promising start. Two of those players, Alexis Lafreniere and Filip Chytil, as well as head coach Peter Laviolette, spoke to The Hockey News about the line's chemistry.
The Ranger's second-line center as well as their budding winger are off to a convincing start in their fourth and seventh NHL seasons.
Since Filip Chytil debuted in 2017 and Alexis Lafreniere took the ice as the New York Ranger's only number-one overall draft pick in the club's 96-year history, expectations for the young talents were sky high.
Following a playoff series where Lafreniere posted zeroes in virtually every stat category, and Chytil's monster season was extinguished, the pressure amped up.
The youngster's former linemate Kaapo Kakko played exceptional hockey in the 2023 exhibition matches and earned a spot next to Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Meanwhile, Lafreniere fell down the depth chart to the third line and early signs of a healthy scratch were written on the wall.
Offensive engine Artemi Panarin has skated with the two, formulating a dominant group that in training camp displayed Blake Wheeler on the flank rather than Lafreniere.
The negativity surrounding the three was quickly abolished in the team's first victory over the promising Buffalo Sabres, where Lafreniere and Panarin scored two of the team's five goals.
The ping-pong ball prize talked about what led to his fast start, "For me it's confidence. Trying to make plays with the puck and [I'm] not scared to go out and make mistakes. I think that helps."
He scored the first goal of the season and his play off of the puck has already dramatically improved from years past.
Filip Chytil spoke with conviction. Despite the trio's invigorating start, he is not satisfied, "We're just missing goals, otherwise, we are playing pretty well."
He also spoke of his summer training, with an emphasis on shooting," It's never bad to shoot, I worked on that all summer. I've had a lot of chances that didn't go in the first three games...I got to keep working hard on that every practice."
The same mentality was also discussed by Lafreniere, "I don't think I was my best last game, the first two games were better..."
Even with the early boom, the two blossoming talents are taking accountability for their play.
Head coach Peter Laviolette is impressed by the triad's first games together, "I think that line is all a little bit different in what they bring to the table, I like what I've seen so far."
He also spoke about slotting Chytil in the top six, "I think there comes a point in a career where you say you're not 18 anymore, you're not in your first year in the league. I think at that point you have to expand your mind on what the potential is of that player... "
The Rangers needed a reliable second unit with bombastic chemistry. That is now coming from three of the most criticized New York Rangers. They are penning the script now, one play at a time.