Why does everyone think Lafreniere is the consensus number 1? He's good but he's also almost a calendar year older than Byfield. Like Byfield has a higher P/GP than McDavid did when he was 17 on a substantially worse team and Stutzle looks like a German Peter Forsberg. If I had the number 1 pick I wouldn't just write him in automatically.

I guess you haven't watched him

You know that Mcdavid was averaging 2.80 ppg at 17 years old and byfield is not even close to that number with a 1.82 ppg average.

I have he has great vision and is a great playmaker

woah dude slow down you can't use all the numbers, you can only pick and choose certain numbers that fit the narrative

Because he IS the consensus #1?

McDavid in 2013-14: 56 Games 99 points 1.77 P/GP (16 years 9 months at start of the year)
Byfield in 2019-20: 45 Games 82 points 1.82 P/GP (17 years 1 month at start of the year)

There's a 4 month difference but McDavid was closer to 17 in 2013-14 than 2014-15 and he had Connor Brown, Burakovsky, and Dylan Strome on his team

You will have to teach me how it’s done because where i have learn math they didn’t teach me to choose the number i want to compare to other number.

Way too much for bertuzzi, And yes please on Alexis Lafreniere.

I'm not saying Byfield is better its just I don't understand why there isn't even a debate that anyone else could go number 1

So mcdavid was 16. At is 17 year old season there was no connor brown and no burakowsky and he completely dominate the league. Unfortunately Byfield is always the youngest of is hockey year class, but he is playing is draft season like everyother player. He have played the same amount of junior hockey season then mcdavid at that point so it’s irrelevant to say that connor was a year older because that simply not the case.

I believe the thing with Byfield is that he started the season really hot, which is why the numbers really explode off the page, and Lafreniere's start was good but not as good as Byfield's. Back then there still was a debate, and at that point I thought Byfield really would make a run for Number 1 overall because he's a center. But since then, Byfield has slowed down a bit, and while Lafreniere never had an "explosive" stretch, he's been consistent the whole season, and I think the World Juniors where Lafreniere really played well and Byfield was often on the 4th line really played a big factor as well, as Byfield was placed on the 1st line when Laf was injured for a couple games and he did next to nothing with the opportunity. I think the combination of all those things really just solidified his status as 1st OA

Le club de hockey des Canadiens de Montréal est fier de sélectionner * long pause for added tension* des Océanic de Rimouski, dans la LHJMQ... ALEXIS LAFRENIÈRE !!!

*Followed by 8 million deafening cheers to shake the hockey world with chills down their spines*

81.5% chance you don’t select from Rimouski Alexis Lafreniere

I don't understand it either, but that's the way it seems to be. I would not be disappointed in the least if I was picking 2nd or 3rd. Both Byfield and Stutzle could well have a greater impact on the game than Lafreniere. The one advantage Lafreniere has over Byfield is that he's likely to step into the NHL right away, whereas Byfield will need another year in junior.

It was the WJC tourney that cemented Lafreniere's hold on the #1 spot, IMO.

The cap is not going up whatsoever.

That Bertuzzi contract is laugh out loud funny