Alexis Lafrenière is having a monster start to the season for the New York Rangers. Through five games, the 23-year-old forward has recorded three goals, three assists and six points. After his breakout season last year where he had a career best 57 points and his hot start to the 2024-25 campaign, Lafrenière is on Team Canada’s radar to earn a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off. The tournament will take place from February 12-20, featuring Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland. While Lafrenière is not necessarily focused on the 4 Nations Face-Off, it’s certainly an event that intrigues him. “That’s always cool,” Lafrenière said via NHL.com. [https://www.nhl.com/news/rangers-alexis-lafreniere-making-case-for-canada-4-nations-roster] “Obviously, those events are fun to watch. You never know what can happen. I’ll try to keep playing my game. My focus is here, try to help the team win, and play some good hockey.” Alongside Artemi Panarin, Lafrenière is blossoming into a star caliber player before our eyes and still remains one of the most explosive young players in the NHL. By watching Lafrenière over the years, it’s easy to see his confidence continuing to grow until now where he's producing at a high level and seems to play the game with so much joy. Stan Fischler talks about Matt Rempe. “For me it’s more of a confidence thing with him that was built up from last year to him maybe being one of our best players in the playoffs,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. [https://www.nhl.com/news/rangers-alexis-lafreniere-making-case-for-canada-4-nations-roster] “And some of the things he was doing in the playoffs, you’d have to be carrying some confidence to try and pull off some of the stuff that he did successfully.” Lafrenière is well on his way to becoming a superstar in the NHL and maybe even one day taking over as the Rangers’ franchise player.
