Alex Laferriere has taken a sophomore step forward, turning the chances has had last year into goals this year

It’s not all that often you see a player score 12 goals in 81 games one season and then repeat the feat, with 12 goals the following season, only in 54 fewer games.

Typically, that’s the kind of growth you’d only see in a younger player and it’s what we’ve seen here in the early goings this season from forward Alex Laferriere, who is, in fact, a young player by experience. Laferriere bagged his 12th goal of the season over the weekend against Minnesota, coming in just the team’s 27th game on the schedule. Quite the jump for the sophomore forward.

“It’s going in right now, which is the most important thing, but I love to shoot the puck, you can’t score without shooting the puck, so I think that’s one thing that I try to focus a lot on, is getting pucks to the net,” he said. “Right now, they’re going in.”

Entering the weekend, Laferriere ranks second in the Kings in goals, trailing only Adrian Kempe.

There are number of reasons as to why that is, and we’ll get to those below. But I’d like to resurface a handful of metrics from Laferriere’s rookie season that might help to paint the picture, pulled from my 50 Facts article back in August.

– In his first professional season, forward Alex Laferriere led the Kings in individual high-danger chances and scoring chances at 5-on-5.
– Laferriere ranked second in expected goals scored at 5-on-5, behind only Trevor Moore.
– Laferriere ranked seventh in actual goals and shooting percentage amongst regular Kings forwards.
– He ranked ninth in time-on-ice per game amongst forwards at 5-on-5.
– He also recorded a point on just over 60 percent of the goals he was on the ice for last season, ranking ninth among regular Kings forwards.
– Laferriere also hit the post eight times last season, tied for the most on the Kings.

So, the TLDR of all that is that in even-strength situations last season, Laferriere had more high-danger looks than any other forward. As a result, his expected goals metric was the second highest on the team, a figure that Jim Hiller has referenced this season as well on a couple of different occasions, referencing the internal metrics the Kings have, which have deeper detail than the ones we have access to publicly.

“What I would say about Laf is he was dangerous last year too, he was very dangerous, he was just shy behind Juice at 5-on-5 as our second leading chance getter,” Hiller said. “He didn’t score, he was snake bit a little bit, but I’m not real surprised that he’s off to the start he is this year, he’s a dangerous offensive player.”

The actuals did not match the underlyings – obviously, I guess, since I’m writing this article – but Laferriere collected a point only on 60 percent of the goals he was on the ice for and hit a team-high eight posts.

You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, a great player once said, I’m told. As a rookie, Laferriere missed the majority of the shots he did take. Not the case this season.

The metrics he had last season pointed to a player who was primed to break out. You just never know with a younger player what step he would take. For Laferriere, the step in the early stages has been a pretty big one.

The above metrics refer to 5-on-5 situations only. Last season, that was really all there was to talk about as it pertains to Laferriere, as he wasn’t a prominent figure on special teams. This season, the bulk of his production has still been at even strength, but now he’s converting at a rate in line with some of the best players in the NHL. 10 of Laferriere’s 12 goals have come at even strength, good for a tie for eighth in the NHL. When you break down the numbers on a per/60 basis, among skaters with at least 300 minutes played, Laferriere ranks seventh in the league at 1.62. Top 10 on both accounts is pretty good business.

So, to point to the question posed above – why?

For starters, Laferriere has certainly improved his shot.

OMG what a shot Laf pic.twitter.com/3VRB80enEM

— LA Kings (@LAKings) December 8, 2024

It’s simple to put it that way, but Laferriere said his shot was a focal point during summer training. It wasn’t even just the velocity or the accuracy, although I think both of those areas have improved. His number-one focus was on getting his shot through at a better rate than he did last season. Too often as a rookie, Laferriere was a split second late on his release and that caused his shot to be blocked or deflected before it even had the opportunity to test the goaltender. He processed plays just a little bit slower than he is this season. Beating that first defender cleanly was his biggest summer task and he’s certainly improved in that area. As he’s getting shots through, he’s beating goaltenders at a much higher rate.

As Hiller put it, Laferriere isn’t getting more chances than he had last season, he’s simply converting on more of the chances he does have. The numbers would back that up.

On a per/60 basis, Laferriere averaged 17.9 shot attempts per/60 last season. This year? 17.8. Scoring chances are down slightly, but high-danger chances are slightly up. That stat about collecting a point on just over 60 percent of the goals he was on the ice for? That’s up over 80 percent in 5-on-5 situations during the first third of this season, coming in right around the same amount of ice time, on average.

As his current centerman Phillip Danault put it succinctly, he’s not getting lucky. He’s how the shot and he’s putting in the work to get into the right areas to use it. That’s a player who deserves the totals he’s producing.

“He’s a goalscorer for sure, but he’s working hard though, it’s not lucky goals,” Danault said. “He’s got a heavy shot, he’s got confidence and he’s playing hard. He deserves his chance, his chances in front of the net, he’s worked for it and burying them. He’s a great player for us right now.”

That hard work is something that Laferriere is bringing, night in and night out, regardless of if he scored that night or not.

While the shot is obviously better, a lot of his goals have come from greasy areas, as Danault points out, where his shot has nothing to do with it.

That’s a big positive for a young player. It’s a reason why he is scoring, though, as well. When Laferriere is getting to the right areas, when he’s making things happen in other areas of his game, it’s leading to offensive opportunities for him and for his teammates, which regularly lead to secondary chances for him. It’s something that Kings Associate Coach D.J. Smith talks to him about regularly and something he takes a lot of pride in as a player.

“I think it’s just not cheating the game,” Laferriere said. “Smitty likes to talk to me a lot when I’m getting away from my game, I’m not forechecking, I’m not finishing hits. He likes to talk about the hockey gods and they reward you for doing the hard work. Right now, I think even when I’m not being able to score, if I’m just a pest on the forecheck, trying to get pucks back and get my linemates puck and creating opportunities, that’s when I’m at my best. Right now, the hockey gods are rewarding me.”

Whether you believe in the hockey gods or not, well, I’ll leave that up to you.

What I think is apparent, though, is that Laferriere is willing to do the right things to be successful even when he isn’t scoring and when you do that, it puts you in more positions to score. Last night against New Jersey, he had the assist on Jordan Spence’s goal. With five more games on the road, the Kings need more offensive production and Laferriere is one player who is capable of providing it.

On this trip last year, we’d probably be talking about other names as being that source of production. Laferriere’s name would be pretty far down the list, even though he was among the team’s best at generating high-danger opportunities. A good sign of growth for a player who has just taken that next step in a number of different areas as a second-year player. In terms of results, the proof is in the pudding.

“I see the same player, maybe a little quicker release and a little bit bigger, stronger, more mature, understanding the league better,” Hiller added. “I expect he’ll be a good player for a long time.”

Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images