It’s been a series of firsts for Alex Laferriere, who is built to excel through another in Game 5

There have been a lot of firsts crammed into a short period of time for LA Kings rookie forward Alex Laferriere.

There was his first NHL season of course, all 81 games worth.

His first NHL playoff game.

His first NHL playoff point.

There was the first time his dad and girlfriend saw him play live in an NHL playoff game, actually first two games as they were in Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.

And now, Wednesday night in Edmonton, Laferriere will get to experience his first NHL playoff elimination game.

Whew. It’s a lot to take in. But, as it turns out for Laferriere, not too much to take in.

Kings head coach Jim Hiller has had no qualms about using Laferriere in a variety of situations including time spent playing on the team’s top line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

Hiller had high praise for Laferriere’s smooth adaptation to the rigors of playoff hockey and agreed that Laferriere has acquitted himself well heading into Game 5 Wednesday night.

“He has,” Hiller said. “You wonder a guy’s first playoff experience in the NHL, never mind a rookie’s first playoff experience in the NHL, and he’s done terrific. He’s one of the hits leaders for our team. He’s played hard, he’s had a few chances, he’s raised his level. But it’s a pretty consistent game from him. We saw that during the season and he’s been able to raise it in the playoffs too so a positive sign for him.”

Laferriere may not have known exactly what to expect when the puck dropped in Game 1 in Edmonton a little more than a week ago. But he does now, a testament to his focus and the learning experiences he’s had playing in the USHL and then at Harvard.

“I think I definitely feel a lot more settled,” Laferriere said. “Obviously I wish I could contribute a little bit more scoring wise. But for me I think just my first year, just kind of doing anything I can. I mean, I’m not going to score a goal every single night so I’ve got to be effective in some other ways. Just trying to do what I can and if that’s being physical then that’s what I bring.”

Laferriere’s girlfriend and father, Rob, a former collegiate player at Princeton and Boston College, were on hand for the games in Los Angeles.

To be able to share those moments with them, even though they were both losses, was nonetheless memorable.

“There’s been a lot of points throughout the season that I got to share with them, like my first game and stuff like that,” Laferriere said. “So, anytime you get to share something like that it’s really special especially because growing up watching all the playoff games with my dad, we were kind of a Bruins family growing up, so just watching the playoffs every year it’s kind of cool to be able to play in them and then especially being able to have him in the stands is pretty special.”

Laferriere is averaging 12:51 a night in ice time just slightly below his regular season average of 13:13.

He is tied for the team lead in hits with 20 with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andreas Englund.

He has adapted to Hiller’s regular mixing of the lines without batting an eye, showcasing the versatility that made him one of the NCAA’s best players a season ago.

“Alex, he’s a great kid, a great teammate,” long-time Harvard coach and former NHLer Ted Donato said. “For us a guy that just could play all three forward positions. He was always productive.”

Laferriere took his academics seriously and in fact is headed back to Harvard at some point this off-season to keep working towards his psychology degree.

“Both his hockey career and his academics were important to him,” Donato said. “Both he and his family really appreciate the opportunity academically he had in going to Harvard.”

Both Donato and Peter Mannino, who coached Laferriere for two years in Des Moines in the USHL, have been impressed but not surprised by Laferriere’s seamless transition to life as NHL’er with the Kings.

“I’m not surprised but I certainly have been impressed with the way he’s been able to figure out wherever he plays in the lineup what he’s expected of him,” Donato said.

Some young NHL players who are used to being top offensive guys in junior or in college have difficulty finding a lane with their NHL clubs if they are asked to step out of that role. That hasn’t been an issue for Laferriere who has taken to playing a hard-nosed style when needed, separating opponents from the puck with a strong forecheck and using his speed and deceptive shot when given the opportunity.

“I give him a lot of credit for figuring out what he needed to be in order to be helpful,” Donato said. “That’s always the challenge. That’s a challenge that I think he has accepted. In some ways as a coach you really appreciate someone like Alex because he just shows up every day excited to play hockey, very low maintenance. He’s not someone that you have to spend a lot of time with trying to motivate or teach and [he] just really was a good teammate.

“To me I’m incredibly happy for him because he does operate with such a focus but also a humility that makes him a favorite to his linemates and his coaches,” the celebrated college coach added.

Mannino is now an associate coach at Colorado College but when he arrived in Des Moines for the 2019-20 season Laferriere was just beginning a growth spurt that would take him from a spindly 5-foot-6 youngster who registered zero points in an abbreviated first 12-game season in the USHL to a solid six-footer who would record 95 points in 91 games over the next two seasons under Mannino.

“He was crazy small,” Mannino recalled.

Quickly, though, Laferriere’s confidence and competitiveness made him a star with Des Moines.

“Those are NHL qualities,” Mannino said. “He has that. He has extreme confidence. He’s a great kid. He has a swagger about him. Every day, every practice it was a competition.”

When the Kings drafted Laferriere with the 83rd pick in the 2020 draft, Mannino knew in his heart that his star player had the tools to make it.

Laferriere wasn’t expected to play a second year in Des Moines but he ended up delaying his arrival in Harvard because of the COVID pandemic. Instead of taking things for granted in the USHL Laferriere worked even harder and was a dominant player in the league.

“He came back and took an even further step,” Mannino said. “He grew in so many ways.”

That evolution continued at Harvard where he had 73 points in 69 games over two seasons before joining the Kings organization.

“You’re going to have someone who’s going to impact the Kings for a long time,” Mannino predicted.

As for his coolness in spite of the stakes of NHL playoff hockey Mannino would have expected nothing less.

“Alex is just there to play,” Mannino said. “It’s a simple, clear mindset.”

That mindset will be put to the test Wednesday when the Kings must get the better of Edmonton to keep their season alive. But, as has been the case throughout the season, Laferriere said being able to rely on the wealth of experience in the Kings room has been invaluable in helping to quell any nerves.

“Any time you’re facing elimination it kind of puts an extra step in your game,” Laferriere said. “I think for us we have a lot of leaders who have talked to us and sat us down and told us that it’s not the end of the world of the world being down 3-1.”

“Most of them have been a part of teams that have come back from that,” he added. “So, it’s not the end of the world. Especially coming after the game we just played at home. We really liked our game obviously didn’t go the right way but we feel like there was a lot of positives there to try and just continue and play with those and we’ll be fine.”