The remarkable succe s of AlexisLafrenieres junior career has made him the clear-cut favorite to be the first overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.Not only has he lived up to thelofty expectations but he appears to be on the verge of establishing a new standard of excellence for French Canadian-born prospects. A bruising winger with exceptional puck skills, Lafrenierewas raised in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Eustache, Que.,and currently plays for the Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Its the same organization that produced two of the last three Canadian-born forwards from the Quebec League to go first overall Vincent Lecavalier in 1998 and Sidney Crosby in 2005.If were going to evaluate a premier prospect solely on point production, then Lafrenieres grip on the top ranking has Chicago Bears Jersey tightened. Not only is he leading the entire QMJHL in scoring, but he is expected to beon Canadas top line at theIIHF World Junior Championship set to begin Dec. 26 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. While he made the team last year, he served as more of a depth player;this year, hell be leaned on for clutch play and help revitalize a Canadian power play that has struggled the last few tournaments. Lafrenieres 27 power-play a sists through Sunday are the most of any player in any of Canadas three major junior leagues.The 2010s: |A scrub of Lafrenieres resume prior to this season more than validates the consensus opinion that he would become the first pick in this draft. Selected first overall by Rimouski in the 2017 QMJHL Entry Draft, Lafreniere guided the Oceanic to a 43-point improvement in the standings, earningRookie of the Year honor with42 goals the most by a 16-year-old since Crosby (2004). Hekicked off last season by guiding Canada to a gold medal at the under-18 Ivan Hlinka and finishing as the tournaments leading scorer. In league play, he posted his first 100-point season and was named the Canadian Hockey Leagues Player of the Year despite being a year away from draft eligibility. At the rate hes going, Lafreniere is the favorite to join Crosby and John Tavares as the only Brian Urlacher Jersey players in CHL history to win the prestigious award multiple times before they were drafted.So, how good are Lafrenieres QMJHL numbers, really? After recording an impre sive 1.72 points-per-game average last year, and bumping that up to a mind-numbing 2.19 through Dec. 15, he is on paceto join Crosby (2003, 2004) as the only two QMJHLers in the last 22 years to eclipse the 1.70 mark in consecutive pre-draft seasons. Additionally, his current 2.19 average would be the second-highest of any QMJHL draft prospect since 1996. In other words:Lafreniere has been the QMJHLs most dominant pre-draft player not named Sidney Crosby in well over 20 years. He's also accomplishing the feat when scoring in the Quebec League is nearly a full goal le s per game now (6.88) than it was in 2000 (7.81). Of course, goal-scoring in The Q is slowly trending upwards from its low point in the mid-2000sbut Lafreniere is single-handily out-pacing by a wide margin almost two decades worth of draft-eligible alumni.Impre sive, indeed.Pre-draft QMJHL prospects 1993-20 (high picks and NHL notables)PlayerGPPTSPTS/GSeasonDrafted overallLeague G/GSidney Crosby621682.7120051st6.37Alexandre Daigle531372.5819931st8.81Daniel Briere671632.43199624th8.04Sidney Joel Iyiegbuniwe Jersey Crosby591352.292004Draft-16.72Alexis Lafreniere32*70*2.19*20202020 Draft6.88*Jonathan Drouin491052.1420133rd6.91Pierre-Marc Bouchard691402.0320028th6.97Derick Bra sard581162.0020066th7.41Vincent Lecavalier581151.9819981st7.44Alexis Lafreniere611051.722019Draft-16.92Nathan MacKinnon44751.7020131st6.91Brad Richards681151.69199864th7.44Alex Tanguay51851.67199812th7.44*Thru games played on Dec. 15Still, some continue to argue that Lafrenieres numbers are the byproduct of playing in an up-tempo league as opposed to the more balanced Ontario Hockey League, or the tough and tight-checking Western Hockey League. A closer look into league-wide goal-scoring, however, reveals that it is the OHL, not the QMJHL, that offers the playmakers and goal scorers an environment far more conducive for registering impre sive draft-year stats.This is relevant because it not only adds context to Lafrenieres production but also to his closest competitor for the top spot in Anthony Miller Jersey the draft Quinton Byfield.The hulking center for the OHLs Sudbury Wolves is nearly a full year younger than Lafreniere and averaging an impre sive 1.90 points per game. Of Byfields 57 points in 30 games, 41 have come at even strength or shorthanded the same number Lafreniere has recorded out of his 70 points but in two more games.The difference in overallpoint totals is due to Lafrenieres significant advantage in power-play points (29 to Byfields 16).Rimouski, which operates the QMJHLs second-best power play at 31.1 percent, earns 4.35 opportunities a game whileByfields Wolves sits at24.2 percent effectivene s on 3.76 chances per contest. Even if, in ahypothetical scenario, Sudbury drew as many power-play chances as Rimouski, the additional goals they'd score would only bump Byfield's overall point total from 57 to 61 (currently he's beeninvolvedin 16 of the team's30 power-play goals).In conclusion, Alexis Lafreniere is outproducing Quinton Byfield by a wide margin, and doing so while the QMJHL is averaging 0.76 goals le s per game than in Byfields OHL.2020 NHL Entry Draft Top 125: Of course, goals and a sists are just part of the overall evaluation proce s.The factthey play different forward positions in different leagues doesnt cheapen the significance of either players impre sive stat totals. And, now that we know Lafrenieres impre sive draft-year production isnt enhanced by some sort of multiplier, we can begin to analyze the aspects of his game that make him unique; not only for this specific draft cla s but po sibly for any draft prospect since Connor McDavid.Lafreniere is a powerful left wing who po se ses the vision and touch of a fine se playmaker. He was the key cog on what was arguably the best line in all of Canadian major junior when he played this season with center Cedric Pare and the ;each averaged near, or over, two points-per-game. While this type of single-line production has historically been common in juniors, it has become more of a rarity in the past decade and it Tarik Cohen Jersey s no stretch to say that neither Pare or Zavgorodniy would be putting up career years had it not been for the talented 18-year-old.World Juniors 2020: | If you listed the last half dozen first-overall picks