During training camp, Alexis Lafreniere said he wanted to have a big season. Coming off last year’s disappointment that paled in comparison to his 2023-24 breakout when he set career bests in goals (28), assists (29), and points (57), the 24-year-old left wing needs a better 2025-26.

After signing a contract extension, Lafreniere fell apart last season. His game fell off so badly that he looked completely checked out. There were stretches where he did nothing, struggling to produce while playing on the same scoring line with Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck that dominated opponents the previous season.

Even though he finished better last spring, he wound up with an underwhelming 17 goals with 28 assists for 45 points. Even worse was his dreadful defensive play, which led to a minus-13 rating. There were too many instances when he failed to hustle back and pick up a man on the backcheck. Never the best defensive forward, his effort wasn’t good enough.

Lafreniere wasn’t alone. Even Panarin had his issues while pacing the Rangers in scoring with 89 points. The Bread Man finished a minus-9. Trocheck was the most defensively responsible, but his play dipped for much of the season. A stronger finish helped him wind up with 26 goals and 33 assists for 59 points with an even rating.

Much went wrong for last year’s Rangers to fail to qualify for the postseason. The defensive structure fell apart under former coach Peter Laviolette, who at times during press conferences seemed resigned. It was painfully obvious that he would lose his job a year removed from guiding the Rangers to the Presidents’ Trophy and a trip to the Conference Finals.

Enter Mike Sullivan. A former assistant coach under John Tortorella, Sullivan spent a decade in Pittsburgh guiding the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cups. It didn’t end well with the Pens declining despite Sidney Crosby continuing to defy logic.

Sullivan has emphasized a better defensive structure on Broadway. It’s resulted in a much improved overall play from the Blueshirts. However, they’re having issues scoring. They’ll bring a mediocre 3-4-1 record into Thursday night’s matchup against the Sharks. The big question is, can they get enough goals to win at Madison Square Garden. Panarin has the only goal in 12 periods, ending a 180:57 goalless drought at home.

While Panarin has finally snapped out of it, and Mika Zibanejad has played much better since having to move back to center with an upper-body injury, keeping Trocheck out, Lafreniere’s game has disappeared. After scoring and setting up a goal in a 4-0 win over the Sabres on Oct. 9, he’s gone six straight games without a point. After being more aggressive with his shot early on, the former 2020 number one overall pick has reverted to being a non-factor. In the last three games, he’s totaled three shots while hardly being noticeable during most shifts.

The only time Lafreniere was visible came when he got caught in between against the Wild on a defensive draw. He had a Jonas Brodin shot deflect off him past Igor Shesterkin. Afterward, Sullivan got in his ear about being more aggressive if he decided to go for the shot block.

For the season, Lafreniere has just one goal and one helper in eight games. That means he’s been scoreless in the other seven games. Without Trocheck, he can’t be a passenger. It wasn’t working out with Panarin and Zibanejad. So, Sullivan switched Lafreniere and Will Cuylle, who also is off to a bad start with only one goal so far. Unless both start producing, the Rangers will continue to be punch less offensively.

The frustrating part about Lafreniere is that when he’s not creating offense, he doesn’t do much else. For a former consensus top pick scouts raved about, there’s little intensity shown from him. He doesn’t hit with regularity or do much else.

Lafreniere isn’t getting his nose dirty in front or making himself a pest during scrums. He did more of that a couple of years ago. His confidence was high, with a more active Lafreniere in on the forecheck during the Rangers’ playoff run in 2024. He had eight goals and six assists for 14 points. Most impressive is that he was one of the best forwards against the Panthers.

What happened? That’s hard to explain. In almost a year since he got his big contract that pays him an AAV of $7.45 million, it’s almost like he stopped working consistently. When will that change?

Lafreniere is approaching two milestones. He’s 12 games away from 400. He is five points shy of 200. He needs seven goals for 100. But when you consider all the hype surrounding his draft year, none of it is impressive. He was expected to build upon the 28-goal, 57-point season that included a strong playoff showing. Instead, it’s been all downhill since.

Is it time to give up completely on Lafreniere? He’s signed through 2032. His no-movement clause doesn’t kick in until 2027-28. Unless things drastically change, it looks like the Rangers are stuck with a player who looks like a bust.

There’s no consistency to Lafreniere’s game. He’s shown flashes of brilliance to score some highlight reel goals over his career. But he lacks the game-breaking speed that other young stars possess. Tim Stutzle was selected third by the Senators in the same draft. Lucas Raymond was taken fourth by the Red Wings. Seth Jarvis went number 13 to the Hurricanes. They are more explosive players.

One wonders why Lafreniere hasn’t improved. He’s played the most games. If one can point out that Covid didn’t help him in his rookie year, he eventually improved. It took him four years to finally have a major role. Even now that he’s getting first power play time with Trocheck out, he isn’t doing enough with the chance. The Rangers power play remains a source of frustration. Much like their Jekyll & Hyde act at home compared to the road.

Is there anybody who doesn’t think the woeful Sharks can’t come out of MSG tonight with their first win? They boast more talent. They lost a close game to the Islanders, who, of course, boast a future star in 2025 top pick Matthew Schaefer. Why is it so easy for the Islanders and Devils to hit it out of the park with their number one picks?

When it comes to the Rangers, they are either the most unlucky team or have no idea how to get the most out of their lottery picks. I still don’t know how Kaapo Kakko was compared to Jack Hughes. But Kakko was the consensus number two pick behind Hughes in 2019. All the Rangers have to show for it is veteran defenseman Will Borgen.

Lafreniere isn’t done yet. He can still change the script. If he has the desire to, he must make it work with J.T. Miller. It’s not like Conor Sheary is going to light the lamp consistently. But he’ll give an honest effort.

Lafreniere needs to start. If he can’t turn it around this season, the Rangers will look to get rid of him. There’s still a lot of time left. 74 games, to be exact.