Alexis Lafreniere not a lock to go number one overall, says TSN insider
Alexis Lafreniere has taken the hockey world by storm the past few seasons. The 18-year-old phenom has been talked about for years already, despite not yet playing in the NHL. It has seemed, for a while, like he was going to be the unanimous first overall selection this upcoming draft, but according to TSN reporter Craig Button, that may not be the case.
“Stutzle is a terrific player. Steve is not reluctant to select a player he feels is the best for his team. Wouldn't surprise me if he took (Tim) Stutzle 1st overall,” said Button on Twitter this morning.
This certainly comes as a surprise as everything mentioned up to this point seems to point toward Lafreniere being taken with the first pick. Make no mistake however, Stutzle is a fantastic player. The 18-year-old German born forward had an incredible rookie season in the DEL, a highly regarded professional league in Germany. In 41 games on the season, he put up seven goals and 34 points in just 41 games. What makes this even more impressive is the fact he was 17 years old for over half the season.
Lafreniere, on the other hand, also impressed yet again this season. In his third season with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, he posted video game-like numbers with 35 goals and 112 points in just 52 games. He continued that dominance at the IIHF World Junior Championship this year, winning MVP of the tournament with four goals and 10 points in just five games.
Clearly, these are both incredible players that are likely going to be incredible NHL players for a long time. To this writer, it still seems unlikely Lafreniere isn't the top selection, however it certainly makes things that much more interesting heading into draft day.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 21, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Juraj Slafkovsky | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||