Maybe if it had been a normal summer. Maybe if it had been a normal training camp. Maybe if the pandemic did not coincide with Alexis Lafreniere’s first-overall selection by the Rangers in 2020, the organization would have done the, well, right thing by immediately moving the lad to right wing in order to avoid the Chris Kreider-Artemi Panarin blockade he would confront on the left side.

Three disappointing seasons later, Lafreniere remains somewhat of a mystery. His rate production as a third-liner with negligible power play time is impressive, third on the Rangers over his tenure with 0.9 five-on-five goals per 60 minutes that ranks third behind only Pavel Buchnevich’s 1.08 and Kreider’s 1.04 among players with 700 minutes of ice time. But his impact has not been commensurate with that fancy stat.

There is shared blame for that. A lot of rationalizations, with some of those no more than excuses. If the Rangers have to assume responsibility for this, Lafreniere — who will turn 22 the day before the Oct. 12 opener in Buffalo — has to take ownership of his career.

That means whether he is on the right or left side. That means whether he starts the season as a top-six winger or begins again on the third unit. Me? I’m moving No. 13 to the right because, I’m sorry (no I’m not in the least), I am not demoting Kreider — the NHL’s seventh-leading goal-scorer over the last two years — to the third line.

Lafreniere played three games on the right in his rookie season under David Quinn, then 32 games on his off-wing the last two seasons under Gerard Gallant, all but one of them with either Kreider and Mika Zibanejad or Panarin and Vincent Trocheck as his linemates.

Lafreniere would say he felt comfortable on the right. Gallant would say Lafreniere was more comfortable on the left.

Lafreniere would say he was comfortable playing with marquee veterans. Gallant would say Lafreniere was more comfortable with Kid mates Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko.

The coach and the player never quite seemed in sync, did they?

Now it will be incoming coach Peter Laviolette’s responsibility to get the best out of Lafreniere in this show-me season that begins with training camp in just over two weeks. There is going to be external pressure to award Lafreniere a top-six spot whether he earns it or not. In order to find an example of the Rangers doing that, you’d have to go all the way back to … last year when the club gifted Vitali Kravtsov a top-six spot even though he hadn’t done a lick to earn it.

Again, though, I’m not breaking up the Kreider-Zibanejad connection. I’m not sliding Kreider down to become part of a checking line with Trocheck and, I guess, Barclay Goodrow, because—and I’m saying this as nicely as I can—have you seen Kreider play on the defensive side of the puck over the last 10 years? Zibanejad has more value with Kreider in the defensive zone than at the other end.

There is no reason not to reunite the Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko combination that played the first 13 games last season and then six during the middle of the year while posting impressive numbers across the board. Indeed, the triumvirate had a 58.7 Corsi rating, a 58.4 shot share, a 62.5 goals-for pct., a 59.18 xGF ratio, and a scoring chance rate of 58.5.

If Laviolette is about forecheck pressure and puck possession, there is your first line.

I’m shifting Lafreniere to the right to skate with Panarin on the left and either Chytil or Trocheck in the middle on the second line. It is likely time to give Chytil an extended look with Panarin, but the worry there is on the defensive end, certainly with Lafreniere trying to adapt to the wrong — that’s right — side.

The Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere combination was intact for 12 of the first 13 games last season and was more effective than you probably remember, recording a 59.06 Corsi and a 50.48 xGF. This was when Panarin and Trocheck were trying to learn each other’s tendencies. It makes sense to give this trio another shot, though that would consign Chytil to the third line.

The third line is not going to make sense if the Rangers are going to pay Chytil $4.435.7 million to play between, say, Goodrow and Blake Wheeler. If any of the Kids have demanded more ice time and responsibility, it is Chytil. But he might be blocked, too.

Goodrow-Trocheck-Wheeler probably would be a better fit as a third unit, but, boy, management sure didn’t sign Trocheck to that seven-year free-agent contract worth an annual $5.625M cap hit to be a checking center, either. Neither is that his forte.

Camp opens in a little over two weeks. It is time to do the right thing with and for Lafreniere. Time to move No. 13 to the right on the second unit.

He is not a Kid anymore.