Rangers sign Alexis Lafreniere to seven-year contract
Sources have told Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli that the New York Rangers and forward Alexis Lafreniere have agreed to terms on a seven-year worth $52.15 million.
The contract will hold an annual average value of $7.45 million.
Sources say Alexis Lafreniere’s contract extension with #NYR will come in at 7 years x $7.45 million = $52.15 million.
The price to get to the 8th year, and purchase one more year of UFA, would have ratcheted up the AAV further to a place Rangers couldn’t reach now.
The 23-year-old Lafreniere has had a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign, scoring four goals and three assists for seven points in the Rangers’ first seven games. Last season was a breakout year for the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, hitting career highs in all offensive categories with 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 points in 82 regular-season games, including eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Now in his fifth NHL season, Lafreniere has 79 goals and 76 assists for 155 points in 305 career regular-season games. Lafreniere also has 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 43 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.
Lafreniere, a native of Saint-Eustache, Que., was an offensive juggernaut in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, scoring 114 goals and 183 assists for 297 points in 173 regular-season games across three seasons with the Rimouski Oceanic. Lafreniere posted back-to-back 100-point campaigns in 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The Rangers are 5-1-1 with 11 points through their first seven games, first in the Metropolitan Division. Forward Artemi Panarin leads the team in all offensive categories, scoring six goals and eight assists for 14 points through seven games. Defenseman Adam Fox isn’t far behind with eight assists of his own. Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is off to another all-world start, posting a 4-1-1 record with a .926 save percentage and 2.16 goals against average.
Last season, the blueshirts finished with a 55-23-4 record and 114 points, earning the Presidents’ Trophy with the most points in the regular season. They defeated both the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes to earn a birth in the Eastern Conference Finals, before losing in six games to the Florida Panthers.