Of course it's on both, but they are probably very low on confidence right now as well as not developmentally ready to take the next step since they have been screwed over from day 1. What is so frustrating is that we handled Fox perfectly. He came in as a 20/21yo and got top 4 minutes right away in his first season (almost 19 per game) then starting with his 2nd second season he became our top defender getting almost 25m per game. THAT is how you commit to a high potential player. For some reason, we don't do the same up front.
The same dead horse can keep getting beaten. The bottom line is that Kakko and Lafreniere have been complete busts compared to expectations. Fox showed something from day one. I've seen very little from either of these two in any aspect of their game to get excited about. You can toss Chytil in thar mix as well since it appears his playoff surge was a brief outlier.
I could show you 50 highlights of great plays Fox has made in his short career, Kakko and Laf? Also the Rangers had zero talent on defense which gave Fox the opportunity and he seized it. I was down on Kravstov for going to play in Russia but to his credit he came back and is outplaying the can't do no wrong duo.
Sorry but, what ruins a player's confidence is not missing out on PP1 time, whether or not they deserve it. It's missing WIDE OPEN nets.
There were times Laf was compared to Crosby before the draft. Kakko was supposed to be this nhl ready player without any weaknesses who would make a big impact right away according to the scouts. When have the rangers ever committed to young players development? This is not Columbus or Carolina. They have no clue what they’re doing 80% of time. Chytil is a prime example. Instead of giving him a second line role and major pp minutes they go out and sign a vet Trocheck for 7 fucking years.
