Alexis Lafreniere’s Rangers payday is a reward for everyone involved

It always resonated with me that even when Alexis Lafreniere was going through his most disappointing days through the first three years of his career, the first-overall pick of the 2020 draft was always so popular among his teammates.

The Rangers have had a veteran room for a long time.

Had there been an iota of truth to the smears and allegations on social media about Lafreniere not caring and about Lafreniere drinking away his summers, he would have been run out of the room.

Instead, though, one veteran after another would tell you how special a teammate and talent Lafreniere was, how they could see it every day at the rink, how they appreciated his attitude, humor and work ethic.

Maybe the Rangers didn’t mess this up, after all.

The lad from Saint-Eustache who nabbed the Back Page of The Post three times before he even slipped into his No. 13 Blueshirt cashed in on Friday, signing a seven-year, $52.15 million extension that equates to annual $7.45M cap charge. You might say the organization cashed in, too.

Because over the last calendar year, Lafreniere’s talent and hockey IQ have blasted off with booster-rocket linemates Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. The winger’s elite instincts are obvious. There is a sure-styled confidence to his game that includes a heaping of edge when at his best. He has seized the moment and he has seized his career. He is the guy who commanded the Back Page.

Is anyone else old enough to remember when the left-handed Lafreniere could not make the switch to right wing?

I don’t particularly subscribe to the theory that Lafreniere was suppressed in his rookie season by then-head coach David Quinn, but the second year with Gerard Gallant behind the bench was kind of bonkers the way the coach would insist Lafreniere was not comfortable moving to his off-wing while the player sat at his locker on a daily basis saying he had no issue at all moving to the right. There was something, though, between them that always seemed a little off. Peter Laviolette’s fresh look was necessary.

No other first-overall draft pick in NHL history entered the league the way Lafreniere did in the COVID era. He had no development camp. He had no legitimate training camp. There were no exhibition games. He could not train with his future teammates over the summer. He was in his house, quarantined in Quebec. The season was 56 games and was played almost entirely without fans. Masks were required. Protocols were enhanced. The first two years of Lafreniere’s career, locker rooms were closed to the media. I met him once and that was for a moment in a corridor in Newark where I was not supposed to be.

We tend to gloss over this now the way we gloss over the societal impact of COVID and the specious restrictions — perhaps well-meaning, perhaps nefarious — but the entire Class of ’20 had its development impaired. Maybe it sounded like an excuse at the time, maybe like a rationalization. But the draft class and the individual at the top of it were unique. It is impossible to quantify the impact.

Lafreniere has recorded 155 points (79-76) in 305 games and, here comes the chorus, without any meaningful power-play time. He is second in his draft class in goals, trailing Ottawa’s third-overall Tim Stutzle’s 94. He is third in points to Detroit’s fourth-overall Lucas Raymond’s 180 and Stutzle’s 255. But five-on-five? Lafreniere has 64 goals to Stutzle’s 52. And five-on-five, Lafreniere has 125 points, Stutzle has 136 and Raymond has 90.

Over the past two years as a top-six right wing, Lafreniere ranks tied for 14th in the NHL with 23 goals at five-on-five and 17th in the league with 1.03 goals per 60:00 among forwards with at least 1,200 minutes of ice time.

He’s doing it with style, too. There’s at least once a game where No. 13 brings you to the edge of your seat.

The contract extension represented a home run for both sides. GM Chris Drury has perhaps an additional $500-750,000 of annual cap space available that could go to either K’Andre Miller’s or Igor Shesterkin’s next deal by keeping Lafreniere’s number so far below $8M per. By the way, Stutzle is on the second year of an eight-year deal with an annual $8.35M cap hit while Raymond is working on the first year of an eight-year extension with an annual cap charge of $8.08M. Neither has smelled the playoffs.

I’d be surprised if Lafreniere is not on the Four Nations roster for Team Canada. Even if he is a spare on this team, or starts the tournament as an extra, he projects to be a linchpin for the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy. This is where No. 13 was always meant to be.

And on Broadway, too.

Seven more years on the Great White Way.

The Rangers did not mess up this pick, after all.