Ranking the top 31 prospects for the 2020 NHL Draft: 1. Alexis Lafreniere

Strengths

Playmaking/Hockey Sense

Lafreniere’s great hockey sense allows him to see all areas of the ice and accumulate gaudy assist totals, as he did in his final two years with Rimouski, where he totalled 145 assists in just 113 games.

In this clip Lafreniere shows off his silky passing when he delivers a great saucer to his teammate for a goal, a common theme throughout the season:

On the power play, Lafreniere’s playmaking is front and center, he is always looking for his teammates from his position on the half wall.

The QMJHL sensation finished with just 5 goals on the power play but led the league in assists with 35, which is 11 more than the second-place player.

From the half wall, Lafreniere regularly finds the open player, especially when he uses his great shot pass to freeze the goaltender:

His phenomenal hockey sense allows him to deliver such precise passes for open looks on the net.

In this play below during World junior play, Lafreniere uses his great ability to think a step ahead of his opposition when he knocks the American defenceman’s pass out of the air, then proceeded to score the game-winning goal:

Shot

Despite not putting up ridiculous goal numbers in junior, Lafreniere’s shot is outstanding and his willingness to be a playmaker hides his insane goal-scoring potential.

His lightning-quick release to go along with his blistering snap/wrist shot is one of the best in the whole draft, trailing only Swedish sniper Alexander Holtz.

Here, the Oceanic winger takes the puck from his teammate and from an awkward position near his feet and rifles a snapshot top shelf for the highlight reel goal:

The Quebec Remparts goalie had absolutely zero chance on the shot that found the twine.

His great shooting ability aids his playmaking in a large way, goalies have to focus on Lafreniere when he has the puck and if they’re focused on passing options he can just blow it by you.

Even from a standstill, the future first-overall selection can rifle one for a seemingly easy goal. In the clip below, while flatfooted, Lafreniere rips a one-timer in from the bottom of the circle and leaves the goalie once again hopeless:

He will have no problem beating goalies in the NHL and his goal-scoring totals in the pros shouldn’t differ too much from his numbers in junior.

Hands

The star forward regularly makes defenders miss in a “phone booth” which refers to his ability to beat defenders in tight areas.

Lafreniere versus the Gatineau Olympiques makes the whole team look silly, he easily dangles past the first defender and then while the rest of the team stands frozen, he proceeds to roof it on the goalie with an insane backhand:

Lafreniere consistently beats opposing goaltenders with his silky hands and creates headaches for all who try to defend against him.

Playing in the QMJHL, Lafreniere had a significant amount of breakaways and used his great hands to make goalies look silly. His ability to dangle goalies should aid him in being a successful player in the shootout at the next level too.

In the play below, the talented winger intercepts the pass at the blue line and goes in alone making a quick backhand-forehand move to put it away on the goaltender:

Strength/Physicality

Lafreniere is already physically developed at 6’1″ and 192 pounds he has the frame for the NHL.

He is very strong on his skates, and it is always a task for defenders to knock him off of the puck. Fellow teammate from the world junior tournament in Kevin Bahl was impressed with his willingness to throw the body around:

Some players have great strength but don’t use it by being physical, Lafreniere is never afraid of using his body to intimidate his opponents especially on the forecheck.

During regular-season games in Quebec you may not see his physicality present itself much, but when the stakes get high in the playoffs or like he showed at the world juniors Lafreniere will be throwing his body around quite often.