An update on potential Lafrenière trade from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman

Former 1st overall pick Alexis Lafrenière is now three years into his NHL career and has shown only flashes of the brilliance that enabled him to earn such a high draft pedigree. 

The 21 year old New York Rangers forward put up just 16 goals and 39 points in 81 games last season and, more importantly, looked more like a passenger than a driver of play. Frankly, Lafrenière plays a passive game at the NHL level. He carries the puck on the outside of the defense, looks hesitant to carry the puck into traffic and always defers to his linemates in the offensive zone. In short, he's just not an impact player. He can keep up with the play and make smart reads, but he's not providing much else out there for the Rangers.

Because of this he's been a fixture in trade rumors for awhile now and there's been some talk that he could be on the move this offseason. After all, Lafrenière's entry level contract is now up and he's due a new deal. Obviously Lafrenière won't cash in given his lack of production thus far in his career so is it really worth it to ship him out when his value is at an all time low? Yesterday on his 32 Thoughts podcast for Sportsnet, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that Lafrenière is likely to sign a 'bridge deal' and to get yet another shot with the Rangers under new coaches Peter Laviolette and Mike Peca.

More from Friedman:

If you're trading Alexis Lafrenière right now, it's really at a low value, so it's better to try and fix the problem and that's why they're going for Laviolette and that's why they're going for Peca, who they hope is a very big part of this."

"There was some people who said to me they really wanted to see the MTL Canadiens offer-sheet K'Andre Miller, just for the pure drama of it, obviously that didn't happen. It'll have to be a bridge with Miller, obviously assume it'll be a bridge with Lafrenière."

- Elliotte Friedman

Personally, I don't see how the Rangers could get anything close to value if they trade Lafrenière this offseason. Given their cap situation they'd be much smarter to get him under contract and hope he starts to hit his potential so that he can deliver value to the team. Thoughts, Blueshirts fans?