New York Rangers President and General Manager Chris Drury announced today that the team has agreed to a seven-year contract extension with forward Alexis Lafreniere.
Lafreniere, 23, started the 2024-25 season with seven points (4G-3A) in seven games, including a point in each of the first five games. He joins Thomas Sandström (5 GPs in 1986-87) and Mike McEwen (5 GPs in 1978-79) as the second-longest consecutive opening scoring streak by a Rangers player under the age of 23. It became. Among Rangers skaters this season, Lafreniere ranks first in even strength goals (4), second in even strength points (7), third in goals and tied for third in points.
The 6-2, 196-pound forward set career highs in goals (28), assists (29) and points (57) in 2023-24, and was second on the team in even strength goals (26) and strength points. But it was ranked third. (51). With 28 goals and 29 assists, he became the first Rangers skater under the age of 22 to score at least 25 goals and at least 25 assists in a season since Tony Amonte (1992-93). Last season, when Lafreniere scored, the Blueshirts were 21-1-1. Additionally, Lafreniere’s 30 even strength goals since the start of last season are 12th most in the NHL over all time.
The Saint-Eustache, Quebec native spent five of his NHL seasons with the Rangers, scoring 79 goals, 76 assists and 155 points in 305 career games. Since his rookie season in 2020-21, he has the fourth-most goals and fifth-most points for the Blueshirts, and ranks third on the Rangers in even strength goals (74) over the same span. He is tied for third in even strength points. (143). In New York, he had a 62-8-2 record in 72 regular season games, in which he scored a goal.
Lafreniere appeared in 43 playoff games with the Rangers, scoring 23 points (10G-13A). In the 2024 postseason, he had eight goals, six assists, and 14 points in 16 games. His eight even strength goals ranked second in the NHL and second most in franchise history in a playoff year behind Mark Messier (9 goals in 1993-94).
During the 2022-23 season, Lafreniere had 16 goals and 23 assists for 39 points in 81 games, including a career-high plus-10 rating and a career-high three power play goals. In the 2021-22 season, he recorded 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points. His 19 goals, all at even strength, were the second most on a Blueshirt team that season. In his rookie season in 2020-21, he played in all 56 games for the Rangers, scoring 21 points (12G-9A). He became the first teenager in franchise history to skate in every Blueshirt game in a single Blueshirt season, and his 12 goals ranked third in franchise history for a Rangers teenager.
Lafreniere was originally selected by the Blueshirts in the first round, No. 1 overall, of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
